Paradox

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Next:	Entropy's Pinnacle
Paradox
Game:	The Taken King
Player(s):	1-3
Location:	Vault of Glass, Venus
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Paradox is a Story mission in Destiny The Taken King. It takes place in the Vault of Glass and the Guardian's objective is to find and free Praedyth.

Objectives

• Open the Vault
• Explore the Vault
• Destroy the Taken
• Explore the Vault
• Destroy the Blighted Mind
• Track the Signal
• Survive Praedyth's Vision (Heroic Difficulty Only)
• Accept Praedyth's Gift (Heroic Difficulty Only)

Transcript

All dialogue is spoken through the Ghost's comms.

{Loading Screen}

• IKORA REY: The Vault of Glass. It is one of the Vanguard's greatest triumphs. The destruction of Time's Conflux. A victory over the Vex collective mind. From deep in that vault, we've received a signal laced with an old Vanguard signature. Vex technology disrupts the weft and weave of time itself. If a Guardian has become lost, unstuck in time, we must return them home.

{Gameplay}

The Guardian arrives at the Waking Ruins. The area is in a state of disarray. Several Vex have become extremely damaged, twitching sporadically and firing their weapons aimlessly as though they are somehow corrupted.

• IKORA: The message we received was this:
• PRAEDYTH: (through heavy static) (They want me to send a) message... The creatures will soon reach the heart of the Vault. When they do, (they'll destroy the Vex.) Once they take the Vex, they'll come for the Light.

• IKORA: That's why you're here.

The Guardian reaches the front of the Vault of Glass and finds eight Goblins standing at the door, pointing at the entrance.

• GHOST: Wait! Don't shoot them! They're not in a combat sequence. I think they're waiting for something.

If the Guardian chooses to attack the Goblins anyway:

• GHOST: Never mind.

Upon approaching the entrance, the Goblins turn toward the Guardian, lower their weapons, and stand erect in a non-threatening stance. The door opens as the Goblins stand aside. The Guardian makes their way further inside, receiving another message from Praedyth:

• PRAEDYTH: (I have no idea where) I am. My name is Praedyth, and I was a member of Kabr's Fireteam. I just hope someone (can hear this...)
• IKORA: Praedyth... I've heard that name before! Scattered pieces of gear, references in the margin of a text. He is real.

The Guardian continues deeper, encountering more Vex firing and behaving erratically; eventually arriving at the Templar's Well. An eerie silence runs through these hallowed halls. The Guardian jumps down, heading towards the exit on the far side. However, the exit is suddenly blocked, and Taken Blights form everywhere. Several dozen Taken appear throughout the Well, and the Guardian is forced to fight them. They are, eventually, victorious.

• IKORA: If the Taken are here in the Vault, they are at the heart of the Vex collective mind. Imagine—the machine-planets of the Vex surging with Taken power. This must not be, Guardian.

Alternatively, if the Guardian ventures beneath the main entrance, they may find a dead Ghost, with a memory of Praedyth:

• PRAEDYTH: So, the Vex have predicted their own annihilation... When did they believe this would happen? Can the calculations of minds the size of planets... be wrong?

After defeating the Taken, the Guardian moves further down.

• PRAEDYTH: (...don't know why they're letting) me speak... now, after so long. But if any (...is listening, I) came to the Vault with two others. Kabr was intense sometimes. And Pahanin was always... talking to hims(elf... But they) don't deserve this. No one does.

• GHOST: I'm tracking the signal. Just a little further.

Alternatively, if the Guardian finds another Ghost, a second memory will play:

• PRAEDYTH: I had a friend back at the Tower... She used to say, "Praedyth, there's always room in the mind for hope. It's the crack lets the Light in. (pauses, then resumes bitterly) The Vex have no hope. No imagination, no drive, no fear! All they have is the pattern. Everything must fit! If it can be made to fit, good! If it can't... it gets cut away.

The Guardian approaches the massive drop to the Gorgon's Labyrinth. Several Taken Hobgoblins guard the area, which is heavily fogged with Taken blight. Their presence is overwhelming.

• GHOST: I've lost the signal. Something down here is blocking it.

As soon as the Ghost finishes that sentence a familiar Vex roaring noise is heard, echoing through the chamber. As the Guardian reaches the rear of the Labyrinth, a giant Hydra appears: [[|Morphon, Blighted Mind|Morphon, the Blighted Mind]]. The Taken Vex mind is surrounded by Taken Goblins, Taken Hobgoblins and Taken Minotaurs.

• GHOST: That's it! That Hydra is causing the block. Take it out, or we may never find Praedyth.

The Guardian attacks Morphon and its many defenders. Eventually, the Hydra teleports to another location. Upon opening fire, the Guardian finds Morphon heavily shielded. A few Oracles are seen floating nearby. The Guardian takes them out, leaving the Ultra dazed and vulnerable. The Guardian continues attacking it until a detainment shield surrounds them. Quickly breaking it, they find the Hydra and continue fighting until it succumbs to its damage and dies. The Taken fog lifts, and the remaining forces retreat. The Labyrinth is finally silent.

• GHOST: I think... Yes. We've cleared the Vault of Taken. For the moment, anyway.
• PRAEDYTH: I think that's it. They're closing the door... I lived! Just remember, tell them! I li(ved!) (signal cuts out)
• GHOST: Signal's gone. But I can pinpoint the source.

The Guardian follows Ghost's nav point to a small room with an open door. A skeleton is laid bare across the floor in front of them. The Ghost scans it:

• GHOST: These bones are centuries old. There's a faint echo of Light. This was a Guardian, once. Ikora, I'm... sorry we couldn't bring him back.
• IKORA: Do not apologize. Guardian, you have reclaimed his name from oblivion. In a way, he lives again in the name of the archives. Kabr, and Pahanin... Praedyth and the Vault of Glass. Because of you, his tale will be told.

{Mission ends}

"A Guardian I've never heard of leaves behind a Ghost I've never seen carrying files stamped with Cult headers, files I would have had to authorize to be stamped that way. This kind of thing is why I wake up in the morning."

— Lakshmi-2

Alternatively, if the Guardian ignores the waypoint and continues even further into the vault, they will reach the final area--an enormous chasm with large platforms fading in and out of time. If the Guardian finds the final dead Ghost, another memory is recovered:

• PRAEDYTH: They think this is the end of them: A path with no escape. And yet, here they are, there they were, and there they will be... and there they will have been. (pauses) For them, there is no paradox. There is only the pattern. And the pattern needs the Vex to see it to completion. And so the Vex must be. For the mind of the Vex... is that faith?

On the far side of the chasm, a timegate opens, its light visible even through the mist. A new set of platforms appear leading to it. They seem to appear and disappear even faster than the ones first encountered. The Guardian eventually makes it to the timegate and enters. The Guardian is warped to a distant point in time at the Glass Throne. Suddenly, Praedyth speaks again, without constraint and directly addressing the Guardian:

• PRAEDYTH: Welcome to the end of the Vex—Their... immutable future.

Copious amounts of Taken Vex begin spawning, and the Guardian begins fighting them. Suddenly, the Blighted Descendant, one of Oryx's Zealots, appears near the front of the room.

• PRAEDYTH: (coldly) Enslaved to a will they don't understand. A will long dead here. Dead eons ago. But then they won't end, will they? Because you're here.

The Blighted Descendant is destroyed and the Throne cleared of Taken.

• PRAEDYTH: The Vex won't spare the City. They won't even thank you. But that's the thing about Light: you never know where it'll shine.

As a gift from Praedyth, the door at the Throne's entrance opens up. A chest in the chamber behind the door can be seen. Opening it earns the Guardian the Cult Ghost, a Ghost using the Intrusion Shell that once belonged to Praedyth.

• GHOST: Another dead Ghost. This is... wait, I think this is Praedyth's Ghost. (pauses) She's still got files in her core memory. They're marked with Future War Cult headers. I'd bet Lakshmi will want to see this.

{Mission ends}

Trivia

• This is the only mission thus far in Destiny without an in-game description.