Nezarec, Final God of Pain

"I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."
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Nezarec, Final God of Pain
Biographical information
Other name(s):	The Purest Light The Darkest Hour
Faction:	Disciples of the Witness Black Fleet
Rank:	Ultra
Class:	Tormentor
Combat information
Mission:	Root of Nightmares
Weapon(s):	Night Terror

“

This prison in-between... it will shatter. But I need power. I am pain. I am terror. I am Nezarec!

”

Nezarec, Final God of Pain is a chosen Disciple of the Witness, possessing immense psionic dominion over the Void and mastery of the Darkness to create and induce Nightmares into his victims to feed upon their fear and pain. Nezarec himself was felt mentally across a multitude of civilizations who feared and even worshipped his presence, including the Psion race and even Humanity before the Golden Age.

Nezarec initially led the Black Fleet in its assault on Earth during the Collapse, seeking out The Veil on behalf of The Witness. The Disciple would had claim it only to have been betrayed by Savathûn, the Witch Queen, who killed him and cursed his remains entombed in his own Pyramid on the Moon. Despite his physical death, echoes of his consciousness continued to haunt across the system in whispers. His cursed remains were then separated and exchanged hands amongst the Fallen, only to be gathered centuries later by two parties: The Guardians of the Last City and Eramis, Kell of Darkness of the House of Salvation; the latter whom had brought only his head back to the Witness.

Nezarec himself would become active again in the fallout of The Traveler's attack on The Witness' Pyramid, where he haunted the citizens of Neomuna in the CloudArk. Serving as the final boss of the Root of Nightmares raid, he would fully resurrect by a newly grown Tree of Silver Wings, only to be laid to his final rest by the Guardians during their push to expunge him from the system.

Biography

Pre-Golden Age

"He is that which is end. That which covets sin. The final god of pain—the purest light, the darkest hour. And He shall rise again."

— Passage from "Of Hated Nezarec

The description of Nezarec's Whisper implies that Nezarec was anointed by Rhulk as a new Disciple at some point in the presumably ancient past. The lore tab of the weapon reveals that Eris Morn found the blade within a chamber of The Lunar Pyramid, covered in centuries of dust. This alongside the cutscene in Season of Plunder suggests that Nezarec was the original Disciple that controlled the Lunar Pyramid and was the owner of the glaive.

Nezarec himself was inscribed in a pre-Golden Age text titled "Of Hated Nezarec", a book of . The text states that he will one day rise again, implying that he is either dead, dormant, or in hiding at the time of writing. The origin and age of this text is unknown, aside from that it predates the Golden Age.

According to Nezarec's voice lines upon his reappearance in the Vex Network, he was once worshipped by Psions as a deity, suggesting that much like Rhulk before him, he may have infiltrated the cultures of Psions and possibly other species in addition to humanity.

Collapse

During the Collapse, Nezarec led the Black Fleet in its assault against humanity, with his Pyramid becoming stranded on the Moon when the Traveler made its last stand against the Fleet.

City Age

A Human family carried on Nezarec's religious teachings after the Collapse, and was given some of his power in return. Their youngest son, Mykel, proceeded to create the Acolytes of Nezarec by directing the God of Pain's influence towards ideal victims.

The Drifter was contracted at some point to retrieve an artifact from a place called "The Fourth Tomb of Nezarec" in Jovian space. Though he was accosted by both an unknown individual (implied to be Nessa) and Nezarec's own powers, he escaped unharmed with the artifact in hand.

Season of Plunder

It is revealed in Season of Plunder that Nezarec's corpse was discovered aboard the Lunar Pyramid by the Eliksni after their arrival in the Sol System. The Eliskni determined that Nezarec's body was a source of great power, and divided the corpse into pieces that they then distributed amongst themselves as talismans. These pieces were later stored within relics and hidden away across the solar system. During the season, Eramis, Kell of Darkness sought to collect all the relics under the order of The Witness. Through her research on these relics, Eido, Daughter of Misraaks discovered a reference to the "Curse of Nezarec" in an ancient dirge. The curse is alleged to drain the life of the user, though its purpose is also unknown.

Ultimately, the Guardians gathered all the pieces of Nezarec before Eramis, and Mithrax was able to use them to create something useful: a special brew which was given to a comatose Osiris in the hopes that it would rouse him from his state. The brew worked as hoped as it helped Osiris finally awaken from his slumber.

Lightfall

During the campaign of Lightfall, Neomuna Civil News reports the Neomuni are experiencing widespread nightmares. The report goes on to state that one name has appeared in all of these nightmares; Nezarec. The reports also speculate on the connections between Nezarec and the Psions in their psychic abilities. These claims would later be confirmed as Nezarec being alive when during the Hypernet Current Strike, a mysterious voice said it would claim a part of Vex space for its own, and called itself Nezarec. Nezarec can also occasionally be heard by The Guardian at random while they're patrolling Neomuna, particularly in Maya's Retreat and the Thrilladrome Lost Sector when they equip Nezarec's Whisper or Nezarec's Sin, and taunt them and during the Terminal Overload public event.

Additionally, a connection between Nezarec and the Tormentors may exist, as multiple Tormentors named Imprints of Nezarec are fought both during the Lightfall campaign and during the exotic quest, The Final Strand. When first encountered, Osiris claims that Tormentors are "The fruits of an unholy alliance between the Witness and Calus.",, while Quinn later questions if they are the same species of Nezarec or are clones made by the Witness, implying that they might be clones of Nezarec created by the Witness using Calus' cloning technology. This connection has yet to be explored further.

Root of Nightmares

During the battle between the Traveler and the Witness in Earth's orbit, the Traveler hit the mothership of the Pyramid Fleet with a terraforming beam. This beam deformed the surface of the Pyramid, causing large growths of seemingly benign flora within the structure of the ship. A six Guardian fireteam assembled to investigate the now derelict ship. Upon exploration of the interior, the team discovered a large sarcophagus, containing the disembodied head of Nezarec. This head is revealed to be all that was left of Nezarec after Savathûn killed him during the Collapse, and despite being in a decapitated state, Nezarec conversed with the fireteam, goading them on with various pieces of information. Aspects of themselves, the nature of terror, and how they wished to express their newfound paracausal powers. These powers appear to have been brought about by the terraforming beam of Light that the Traveler shot, causing an immensely large growth to pierce the sarcophagus of Nezarec. Nezarec's resurrection had unwittingly been started by the Traveler.

The fireteam traveled throughout the shattered interior of the Pyramid, fighting the Shadow Legion in an effort to feed paracausal energy into the sarcophagus containing Nezarec. As enough energy was fed into the coffin, large contractions of Resonant energy began to pulse from the coffin, threatening the fireteam with extermination if they failed to attune with it. Nezarec's rebirth was complete.

With the fireteam returning to the sarcophagus, Nezarec burst forth from the amber-like encasement, displaying a newly grown body, fed on the Light and Darkness supplied by the Guardians. He reveled in his newly-found powers, controlling both Light and Dark, and wished to hear the screams of terror of the fireteam as he killed them. However, the fireteam proved too much for him in his newly born state, and he was destroyed. Exploding in much the same fashion as both Rhulk and Calus met their ends, Nezarec reminded the fireteam that even though he had expired, he would always be present in their memories and nightmares, an inescapable impression upon the Universe.

Gallery

• 

  The silhouette of Nezarec's body as seen in a cutscene in Season of Plunder

• 

  Nezarec charging at a fireteam of Guardians in Root of Nightmares

• 

Trivia

• Nezarec's true nature as a Disciple remained largely mysterious until Season of Plunder, with most information coming from the lore entry for the Exotic Warlock helmet Nezarec's Sin and the Glaive Nezarec's Whisper. It is also implied that Nezarec is the one speaking in the description of the Delicate Tomb Exotic Fusion Rifle.
• The revelation that Psions once worshipped Nezarec may explain the design of the Exotic helmet Nezarec's Sin, which strongly resembles the helmets worn by many Psions. The helmet itself is similar to Nezarec's actual head and facial structure, with his horns being more vertically aligned in contrast.
• Nezarec has seven eyes, perhaps a nod to Bungie's recurring use of the number seven in their games.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2 (First mentioned)
  • Forsaken (Mentioned only)
  • The Witch Queen (Mentioned only)
    • Season of the Haunted (Mentioned only)
    • Season of Plunder (Mentioned only)
    • Season of the Seraph (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall (First appearance)
    • Season of Defiance