Endless Night

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Previous:	Clash of the Chosen
Next:	Hunt for the Lost
Endless Night
Fronts:	The Last City, Earth Rathmore Chaos, Europa Tangled Shore, Reef Ocean of Storms, Moon Vex Network
Outcome:	Quria, Blade Transform is destroyed Nexus Collective greatly inhibited Taken influence on the Vex Network is expunged The Endless Night is dispelled The House of Light is integrated into the Last City and become allies with the Vanguard The House of Light celebrate Solstice for the first time as a reward for dispelling the Endless Night alongside the denizens of the Last City Savathûn, the Witch Queen, disguised as Osiris, vanishes from the Last City Savathûn is revealed to be the architect behind the Endless Night Lakshmi-2 is killed and the FWC disbanded Dead Orbit and New Monarchy flee the city The Guardians discover rumors of a friendly Harpy during the Vex attack on the Eliksni Quarter Memorial for the lost is made
Belligerents Vanguard House of Light Sol Collective Taken Future War Cult New Monarchy Dead Orbit Commanders Commander Zavala Ikora Rey Mithrax, Kell of Light Saint-14 Quria, Blade Transform Dikast, Oppressive Mind Dimio, Oppressive Mind Fantis, Oppressive Mind Lakshmi-2 Hideo Jalaal Strength Thousands of Guardians House of Light Splicers Thousands of subjugated Vex programs, simulations and platforms Thousands of Taken FWC Assets and Personnel Faction Personnel and assets Casualties Unknown Quria, the Dreaming Mind Subjugated Minds Thousands of Vex programs, simulations and platforms Thousands of Taken Lakshmi-2 Large portion of Faction assets Civilian casualties Dozens of Human and Eliksni civilians

"This morning, for the first time in humanity's long and storied history, the sun did not rise. Osiris tells me it's a Vex simulation... that has plunged the City into an endless night."

— Ikora.

The Endless Night was a powerful Vex-created Simulation crafted by Quria, Blade Transform that engulfed the Last City, plunging the entire city into unending darkness and draining its power. To stop the simulation and save the Last City, the Vanguard allied with the House of Light and sheltered them in the City so that their Sacred Splicers could hack into The Outer Nexus and assist the Guardians in weakening the simulation.

History

The Night Begins

Following the Guardians' test of strength with the Cabal, reaching an armistice with Empress Caiatl, the people of the Last City find their home shrouded by a night that refused to be lifted, plunging the people into an night without end. Further, the Endless Night affected the power throughout the city, putting a great many people in the dark, causing widespread fear and anxiety.

Attempting to discern the cause of this Endless Night, Ikora Rey and her mentor Osiris both agree that the Vex are behind this latest threat to the Last City. However, unable to actually combat the Vex behind this threat, both Warlocks agree to locate and request the aid of an unlikely ally: Mithrax, Kell to the House of Light and one of the last of the Sacred Splicers. As such, Mithrax would possess the knowledge to combat the simulation powers of the Vex.

Finding an Ally

"The Guardian is almost here. Stay down, stay quiet."
"How do you know we can trust them?"
"I don't... but the Light provides."

— Mithax and House Light Eliksni.

Sending the Guardian to the last place Mithrax was reported seen, they end up on Europa, finding the remains of a skirmish between Mithrax and the Vex. The Guardian learns that Mithrax was attempting to lead refugees fleeing from the violence of the Salvation Fallen but was intercepted by the Vex, crashing their escape ship and sending the survivors to flee into the frozen wastes. Fortunately, the Guardian was able to intercept the Vex before they could reach Mithrax and his people. Grateful for their aid yet still requiring to keep his people safe, Mithrax uses a splicer device that creates a breach into the Vex realm, The Outer Nexus. Asking the Guardian to aid him in "masking" his people and removing the immediate Vex around them, Mithrax has them enter the Vex domain and destroy the Subjective Mind in command of the local Vex. The Guardian traversed the Vex's realm before facing off with the Subjective Mind, destroying it and retrieving a piece of its code, as requested by Mithrax.

Returning back to Europa before the Vex use a cleansing field to rid their realm of intruders, Mithrax is grateful for the aid the Guardians gave to his people but before he takes his leave to find a safe place for his people, Ikora Rey makes the Light Kell an offer: facing the same threat in the Endless Night, the Warlock Vanguard offers the House of Light a safe haven within the Last City. Surprised by the offer, Mithrax agrees, allowing his people to have a sanctuary but wonders if the Eliksni's presence would cause discomfort in the Last City and if Ikora even has such authority. Ikora merely states that if anyone has a problem with her decision, they can take it up with her.

Eliksni in the Last City

"My people shelter beneath the Great Machine... This is beyond simple generosity. I must thank Ikora for her gift."

— Mithrax, Kell of Light.

Setting up in the Botza District of the Last City, the House of Light create a home, the Eliksni Quarters, and provide support in the Tower's H.E.L.M as they work with the Vanguard in combating the Endless Night. Mithrax expresses his eternal gratitude for the Vanguard granting his people a place beneath the Traveler. The Light Kell then begins in earnest in training the Guardians as Sacred Splicers and guides them as they continue to breach into the Outer Nexus and destroy a number of Subjective and Oppressive Minds, collecting their data. Mithrax hopes to use their data to discern the origins of the Endless Night and combat its source.

However, despite the House of Light lending aid to the Guardian's efforts, the presence of Eliksni in the Last City has caused discontent and dissatisfaction in some of its denizens, Saint-14 in particular, having fought them in his crusades for centuries and witnessed their brutality first-hand. Lakshmi-2, leader of the Future War Cult, once expressed a measure of optimism to the Vanguard's alliance with the House of Light but slowly grew paranoid of them, beginning to make public broadcasts warning the people to be wary of the Eliksni, which angers Ikora. The broadcasts ultimately incite fear in the people, leading some to harass the Eliksni or people who are sympathetic towards them. Lakshmi's radical decisions in the War Cult forced some of its members to resign, disillusioned with the path she is taking.

The situation comes to a head as a mob ransacks the Eliksni Quarters and sabotaging their ether supply. Despite this event, Mithrax refuses to sever their alliance, understanding that the attack was motivated by fear, not malice. Ikora tasks Saint-14 to investigate the attack but finds no witnesses, further he finds it that its asking the people too much to have them live besides "monsters" they have fought for centuries. Mithrax counters this with a tale that the Eliskni tell their young, of a monster, a nightmare, that hunted them without mercy, no matter how many times they slayed him, a monster they called "The Saint". Yet now to live in peace within the Last City, they must live beside that same nightmare everyday. Shaken by this story, Saint-14 slowly comes to an understanding with Mithrax and after further working together in combating the Vex, Saint-14 accepts the Eliksni as different from the Fallen he fought in the past.

Eliksni in the Last City.

Despite Saint-14 and Mithrax cooperating, Lakshmi continues to make broadcasts against the House of Light, fully believing that the Eliksni will have a hand in a coming tragedy that would befall the Last City. A belief compounded by Lakshmi's usage of the device that her faction venerates and allows one to see the future. Having had enough of Lakshmi's attempts to spread fear, Ikora interrupts one of Lakshmi's speeches, denouncing her attempts to sow discord and reminding the people of the Last City that humanity is not that different from the Eliksni. Humanity once struggled against tyrants of their own in the Warlords, no different from the Fallen Kells, before coming together and creating the Last City and that they need not let the violence of the past ruin their chance of having a brighter dawn together. Following this, Lakshmi would attempt to twist Ikora's speech as a means of "silencing" her which only convinces her that the Vanguard's judgement is no longer dependable.

The Dreaming Mind Revealed

"I have found the Vex at the source of the Endless Night. Quria, the Dreaming Mind. It's code has been... corrupted by Taken magic."
Savathûn. [sigh] We've been played."

— Mithrax and Ikora.

Though the situation within the Last City becomes political and tense, the Guardians try to remain neutral yet supportive towards Mithrax and his people and continue to make progress in combating the Vex in the Outer Nexus. Eventually, after weeks of breaching into the Vex's domain and retrieving data, Mithrax is able to identify the Axis Mind that created the Endless Night: Quria, the Dreaming Mind, thereby making its master, Savathûn, the Witch Queen, the true instigator the Endless Night. With their foe now identified, Mithrax works on pinpointing Quria's location, allowing the Guardians to corner the Taken Axis Mind. Lakshmi also learns of Savathûn's involvement in the Endless Night's creation and spreads this information to the people, further agitating them which only angers Ikora in turn. Despite this, Ikora has Osiris delve into all they know of the Witch Queen, hoping to discern the Hive God's intentions with the Endless Night in her lies.

Quria, the Endless Night's architect.

With Quria revealed, the Guardians continue to gather data for Mithrax but find Taken Vex throughout the Outer Nexus, forcing the Guardians to battle Taken empowered Oppressive and Subjective Minds.

Regardless of the situation reaching a boiling point, Mithrax is able to corner Quria in the Outer Nexus, allowing the Guardians the opportunity to challenge the Dreaming Mind directly. Breaching into the Vex's domain once more, the Guardians find the area littered with Taken corruption and face off with Quria for the mission of having a new dawn again. Despite Quria's Taken powers and use of the Vex's simulation abilities, the Guardians managed to slay the Dreaming Mind, destroying the Endless Night's architect. Though Quria's destruction didn't immediately lift the Endless Night over the Last City as hoped, Mithrax, the Vanguard and Ikora are optimistic that daylight will return soon. Despite this victory, the Guardians soon face another threat closer to home.

Lakshmi's Coup

Though the Guardians succeeded in destroying the architect of the Endless Night and their alliance with the House of Light brought back daylight to the Last City, Lakshmi-2 remained paranoid and wary of the Eliksni, desiring to see them expelled from the Last City. Further, the War Cult leader becomes dissatisfied with the Vanguard's recent decisions and effectiveness, from allowing Guardians to wield Stasis, their management of the conflict with the Cabal, their inability to stop the Black Fleet, and now allowing the Eliksni to stay within the Last City. Gathering her counterparts in New Monarchy and Dead Orbit, Lakshmi convinces Hideo and Jalaal that new leadership is required for the Guardians, one more inclined to their point of view. However, their efforts to convince either Saladin Forge or Saint-14 to assume the role as leader of the Vanguard were rebuffed. Frustrated that a peaceful transition of power is no longer possible, Lakshmi instead attempts to forcefully expel the Eliksni from the Last City and overthrow the Vanguard leadership with the combined efforts of Future War Cult, Dead Orbit, and New Monarchy, thereby assuming full control over the Consensus. Galvanized with the supposed support of Osiris himself, Lakshmi instigates her coup, rounding up Eliksni in the Botza District and activating a Vex portal to forcefully expel the House of Light. However, during a broadcast, her coup ends horribly as the Vex invade through the portal, attacking and killing humans and Eliksni indiscriminately. Lakshmi-2 ultimately gets killed by the Vex during the slaughter.

Scrambling to defend the Last City and the Eliksni, the Guardians manage to breach into the Outer Nexus once more and destroy the Subjective Mind in command of the attacking Vex, closing the portal. However, the remaining Vex within the City still posed a serious threat, as they closed in on the House of Light. Fortunately, the combined efforts of Ikora, Mithrax, Saint-14, Zavala and even Amanda Holliday were able to defend the Eliksni and destroy the remaining Vex.

With Lakshmi's coup a failure, New Monarchy and Dead Orbit gathered all their surviving members, supplies and anyone else affiliated with them and fled the Last City on Dead Orbit's fleet rather than face the Vanguard's wrath, thereby bringing an end to the Factions. However, in Lakshmi's final broadcast before her death, she stated that she was aided by Osiris, leading Ikora to wonder if her old mentor was part of Lakshmi's coup attempt but his disappearance following the Vex attack only increased the suspicion towards Osiris.

Aftermath

With the combined efforts of the Guardians and the Eliksni of the House of Light, the threat of the Endless Night was put to an end, and despite Lakshmi's attempts, their alliance was reaffirmed. What was left of the Future War Cult disbanded but many who already disagreed with the direction Lakshmi was taking the faction defected to the Vanguard. A memorial was later put together to celebrate their shared victory over the Endless Night and mourn those who had been lost in the Vex's attack. However, the suspicion of Osiris' involvement in the attempted coup remained, leading the Vanguard to conduct an investigation into Osiris' whereabouts.

Later on, the Vanguard was ultimately able to discover Osiris' location within the Reef, sending the Guardian to bring him back to the Last City to answer for what he did. Saint-14 and Crow also join in the search to discern if Osiris really did have a hand in Lakshmi's attempted coup. After delving into the Hive and Taken infested Dreaming City, the three Lightbearers find Osiris speaking with the Reef Queen Mara Sov herself. However, to their horror, the "Osiris" that had aided them was in fact Savathûn, the mastermind of the Endless Night, herself before she was encased into a crystal prison by Mara Sov. The Witch Queen would reveal that she assumed Osiris' form, following the loss of his Light at the hands of the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath, to hide from her sister, Xivu Arath, who now actively hunts her. She further reveals that during her time posing as Osiris, she has "aided" the Guardians in their recent efforts, such as preventing war with the Cabal and bringing the House of Light to the Last City. Savathûn's part in Lakshmi's coup was in reality a ploy to expose her and the other Factions as traitors to the Guardians, making the War Cult leader nothing more than a pawn in the Witch Queen's schemes.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer (First appearance)
  • Season of the Lost (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Haunted (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall (Mentioned only)
  • The Final Shape
  • 10th Anniversary (Mentioned only)
• Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume VII (Mentioned only)