Vex

Vex
Overview
Other name(s):	"Milk robots"
Focal world(s):	Mars Mercury Venus Nessus Io The Leviathan Moon Europa Black Garden Ganymede Neptune 2082 Volantis
Goals:	Become the only being in existence Weave their way into the fabric of reality
At war with:	Cabal Fallen Hive Taken The City Neomuna
Average height:	Various
Distinctions:	Single red optic sensor Large, fan-like head with a beak-like protrusion Sparse frame, tails, and long claw-like fingers Biological Mind/Power Core (critical point)
Average lifespan:	Indefinite (possibly thousands of years or eons)
Notable group(s):	Precursors Descendants Sol Collective Sol Divisive Sol Progeny Hezen Corrective Hezen Protective Aphix Invasive Virgo Prohibition Proxies Compelled Collective
Notable individual(s):	Argos, Planetary Core Atheon, Time's Conflux Belmon, Transcendent Mind Brakion, Genesis Mind Conceptual Mind Consecrated Mind, Sol Inherent Dendron, Root Mind Panoptes, Infinite Mind Protheon, Modular Mind Qodron, Gate Lord Quria, Blade Transform Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent Sekrion, Nexus Mind Theosyion, the Restorative Mind The Templar The Undying Mind Transcendent Hydra Zydron, Gate Lord

"When the world does not match their eternal pattern, they alter the world to suit it. There is no difference between reality and simulation to them. Inside is the same as outside, and the two must be made to correspond."

— Clovis Bray I.

The Vex are a cyber-organic species that are ancient as the Universe itself. Enigmatic and inscrutable, they work ceaselessly to convert planets and other celestial bodies into vast machines, and are hostile toward any life-form that gets in their way. Their technology is among the most advanced ever encountered by humanity, enabling incredible feats of material and spacetime engineering and even time travel.

The Vex have been present in the Solar System for billions of years, and their sophisticated and watchfully guarded structures can be found on multiple planets, including Venus, Mars and Io. Some Vex locations, such as the Black Garden or the Vault of Glass, are artificial realms existing outside of normal space and time.

Overview

"Living metal. Incomprehensible intelligence."

— Grimoire description.

The Vex have been described as a "hyperintelligent time-spanning thought-mesh", a collective intelligence composed of countless component minds distributed across time and space. Each mobile Vex armature contains a mind core filled with a milky suspension of radiolaria, microscopic organisms which embody the true guiding intelligence of the Vex.

Vex come in a diverse array of shapes and sizes, but the majority share features such as triangular or conical "heads," single glowing photoreceptors, jointed limbs, and in several cases arrays of flexible tentacles. Despite their often animalistic appearance, the Vex appear to be mass-produced units, constructed of an unknown metal alloy resembling hammered brass. Headshots on humanoid Vex do not do much damage and instead send them into a berserk state; however, shooting the exposed mind cores in their abdomen will cause them to explode. The Vex travel to the Floating Gardens to recycle their mechanical bodies when they are no longer functional.

History

Origins

A Vex machine world seen in the cinematic

"They learned the rules that governed which patterns would flourish in the game, and which would dwindle.
They learned those rules, because they were those rules.
And in time the gardener became vexed."

— The Darkness

The Vex originated in the "flower game" conducted between the Light and Darkness in the primordial "garden" that existed prior to the creation of the universe. All of these games would end with a single, self-sustaining pattern emerging and dominating the entire simulation. This was pleasing to the Darkness but was irritating to the Light, which desired that the game produce endless novel patterns instead.

When the Light and Darkness began to war with one another, initiating the beginning of the universe, the patterns from the flower game escaped into it. In the initial hot state of the universe the abstract patterns existed as quantum fluctuations, before eventually creating a more stable substrate for themselves in the briny seas of the first worlds to form in the universe, the radiolaria. This was the origin of the Vex as they would later come to be known, and from this point forward they were driven to once more totally dominate the reality they found themselves in, though operating on "outdated" rules that did not account for the paracausal powers of the Darkness or the Light.

The rest of the Vex's evolutionary history is a matter of speculation, but Clovis Bray I hypothesized some likely intermediate steps during his studies of the Vex structures around 2082 Volantis. The Vex developed in extremely high energy environments and competition and predation were not optimal strategies. Instead, the group signalling between the radiolaria formed the basis for the evolution of a swarm intelligence. The radiolaria developed crude armor, possibly hydrogel or silica plating to shield themselves from intense cosmic radiation, allowing them to remain close enough to the surface to directly feed off this plentiful energy source. From here, the Vex constructed and developed ever more complex structures, storing the information in the patterns of the radiolaria colonies themselves. Their microscopic nature allowed the Vex intelligence to deduce and experiment with quantum and high energy physics early, while the radiolaria themselves became, in essence, microscopic tool users.

The Vex developed rapidly, and at some point in their development in the early universe, developed mega-structures around the short-lived hypermassive stars their planets originated around. These structures artificially extended the lifespan of these stars, allowing their use to 'forge' heavier elements that would have been otherwise fantastically rare in the early, low metal universe.

The Ancient Past

The Vex invading Oryx's Throne, led by Quria

"With his sword Crota cut open a new wound, into a new space. In here he thought he might obtain a secret power.
Out of this wound came machines called Vex. They invaded Oryx's throne world. "

— The Books of Sorrow

The earliest historical event associated with the Vex is when the Hive god Crota, Son of Oryx opened a portal to a place where the Vex were present, hoping to find a secret power for himself. Instead, he allowed the Vex to invade Oryx, the Taken King's throne world, the High War. At first unsuited to the Ascendant Realm and the rules governing its reality, the Vex quickly learned of the Hive's Sword Logic, creating Quria, Blade Transform to investigate it. Through Quria, the Vex learned to achieve divinity by killing all who opposed them and adopting worship as a primary function. Though Oryx eventually succeeded in eliminating the Vex from his realm, they preserved what they learned and passed it on to the rest of the Vex hive mind. Quria would later ambush Oryx when he attacked the Nicha Thought-ship. In the ensuing battle, Quria generated a simulation of Oryx's original form: Aurash. As Oryx was distracted by the simulation, Quria devoted the rest of its resources to sending what it had learned to the rest of the Vex hive mind. Quria was then Taken and given to his sister, Savathûn as a gift, however, Oryx allowed Quria to retain a portion of its own will.

The Golden Age

Dendron, Root Mind

"ESI: It controls the simulation. It can hurt our simulated selves. We wouldn't feel that pain, but rationally speaking, we have to treat an identical copy's agony as identical to our own.
SUNDARESH: It's god in there. It can simulate our torment. Forever."

— Recorded Ishtar Collective transcript

During humanity's Golden Age, Vex structures were found on Venus dating back to a few billion years before humanity's existence. Ishtar researchers suspected that the Vex ruins came from an alternate Venus and came into being when the Traveler transformed Venus into a habitable world.

The Collective also recovered a live specimen of Vex and discovered that it had created an internal simulation of themselves, accurately predicting their every move. To Collective researchers, this ability raised profound philosophical quandaries about the nature of reality. Eventually, the researchers were driven nearly to madness, as they started to wonder if they themselves were just Vex simulations, so they decided to bring in a Warmind to intervene on their behalf. Warminds were many orders of magnitude more complex than humans, and it was believed that the Vex would be unable to simulate them; thus, the Warmind's presence and actions would be a sufficiently chaotic variable to allow the researchers to discern which universe was real and disrupt the simulation.

The Vex first appeared on Mercury during the Golden Age as well, shortly after the Traveler terraformed the planet into a garden world. Dendron, Root Mind was created following the Vex's arrival, and began converting the planet into a Machine World that would house the "reality engine" known as the Infinite Forest within its core.

At some point, Clovis Bray I, the patriarch of the Bray family and founder of the Clovis Bray corporation, arranged for a Vex to be stolen from the Ishtar Collective and transported to his research site on Europa. This Vex then built a gate leading from Europa to 2082 Volantis, a blue giant star system in which the star had been surrounded by Vex megastructures. Clovis I's ensuing research into Vex radiolarian fluid and the mysterious paracausal power he called "Clarity" resulted in a breakthrough in the development of exominds.

During or before the Collapse, the colony ship Exodus Black left Earth on a trajectory out of the solar system. It was intercepted, however, by the planetoid known as Nessus, which had become fully converted into a Vex Machine World and had left its usual orbital patterns. The entire crew of the Exodus Black was captured or killed, with some being kept alive by the Vex for a time for experimentation and analysis.

Destiny 1

The City Age

Atheon standing at the Vault of Glass

"They brought us here. The Vex. Evil so dark it despises other evil."

— The Exo Stranger

Sometime before the events of Destiny, the Guardians Kabr, the Legionless, Pahanin, and Praedyth ventured into the Vault of Glass on Venus, a major confluence of the Vex network. Inside, they were quickly thwarted by the Templar and its Gorgons. Pahanin managed to escape, but Kabr was assimilated after giving his Light to fashion the Aegis, while Praedyth was captured and trapped outside of time.

On Mars, the Vex (under the Virgo Prohibition) waged an intense war with the Cabal, who managed to repel the machines despite the vast numbers of them that continually assaulted Cabal positions. This massive, if ineffective, offensive against the Cabal was an effort by the Vex to bar entry to the Black Garden, which the Vex were being summoned to for a then-unknown purpose. Upon successfully infiltrating the Black Garden, the Guardian discovered the Sol Divisive, a collective of Vex dedicated to worshipping an entity within the Garden known as the Black Heart, a replica of the Veil. This seemingly-uncharacteristic behavior was later thought to have been as rational as everything the Vex do; they simply determined that worshiping the Heart would be the most advantageous course of action. This hypothesis was supported by the presence of the Sol Progeny, a trio of Vex frames meant to serve as vessels for the Heart—and to use its power to further the ends of the Vex Network.

Subsequently, a second group of Guardians would enter the Vault of Glass, seeking to further break the Vex's power following the destruction of the Black Heart. The Aegis—having been designed specifically to counter the reality-bending capabilities of the Vault's denizens—allowed these Guardians to escape the fates of their predecessors, fight their way to the core of the Vault, and engage and destroy Atheon, Time's Conflux, the Vault's overseer.

The destruction of the Heart had caused the Black Garden to become a part of normal spacetime, with several entryways on and beneath the surface of Mars. The Undying Mind, an ancient Vex Hydra, would later attempt to seal the Garden away from normal spacetime once more, to secure it against further intrusion. Following the destruction of Crota on the Moon, a strike team entered the Garden and destroyed the Mind, stopping its work—though, true to its name, it would eventually return.

The Taken War

Seditious Mind, one of many Axis Minds Taken.

"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."

— Praedyth

In recent times, the Vex had suffered numerous setbacks across the system - a large number of Vex Axis Minds were destroyed by Guardians, leaving the Vex network in disarray. With the arrival of the Taken, attacks against the Vex had only escalated. The Vex have yet to counter these failures, though some believe the cybernetic machines have begun preparing countermeasures as Variks, the Loyal notes, following Skolas' defeat, "Old machines are waking up...".

Praedyth himself was forgotten until the time of the Taken War, when the Taken began to blight the Vex network. After receiving a distress signal from Praedyth, the Guardian was sent to the Vault to investigate and was unexpectedly granted access by the Vex. Inside, the Guardian discovered a series of Dead Ghosts Praedyth had left behind. Praedyth revealed through recordings within the Ghosts that he had seen what the Vex had calculated would be their future: eons hence, they would be completely corrupted by the Taken, becoming an eternal part of the legacy of Oryx, the Taken King. Although the Vex were able to foresee this future and compelled to seek a way to avert it, they concluded that this grim fate was inevitable without the Light; allowing the Guardian to fight the Taken blight that plagued them was an act of desperation. Traveling through a portal, the Guardian was transported to the Vex's future, where the blight was defeated, the Vex were spared from their fate, and Praedyth's remains and Ghost were recovered. Despite this moment of cooperation, however, the Vex still had no intention of returning the favor or sparing the Last City.

Destiny 2

The Red War

Guardians engaging Brakion, Genesis Mind

"Some speculate that the radiolarian fluid is the last vestige of a biological life-form that became the Vex."

— Sister Faora

By the time of the Red War, two years after the Taken War, the Vex had come under attack by the Fallen House of Dusk and the Cabal Red Legion on Io, Mercury, Mars, and Nessus. Of note, on Mars the Red Legion quickly succeeded against the Vex where other Cabal legions had failed for decades: they destroyed the gate to the Black Garden and drove the Vex out of Meridian Bay. According to Cayde-6, the Red Legion has brought even more of their might to bear on Mars than on Earth. With the gate to the Black Garden having been destroyed by the Red Legion, it is unknown if the Vex still have the means to access the Garden itself. It's possible the entrance from the Tharsis Junction still exists and the Garden is still accessible.

On Nessus, the Red Legion had begun drilling into The Inverted Spire, hoping to study and utilize Protheon, Modular Mind as a weapon but the Vex responded violently, causing a warzone to break out near the drilling sites. The Vanguard found out about the legion's efforts and sent in Guardians to destroy Protheon before the Red Legion could capture the Vex Mind. After fighting through Vex and Cabal forces, the Guardians descended into the Inverted Spire and faced off against the Vex entity. Despite its firepower and altering the battlefield, the Guardians succeeded in destroying Protheon, depriving the Vex of an Axis Mind and the Cabal of a potential new weapon.

While on Io, the Vanguard pin-pointed the Vex's machine conversion of the moon at The Pyramidion, lead by Brakion, Genesis Mind. Not only does the Vanguard want to put a stop to the Vex's plans to turn Io into another machine world but also prevent any lingering Taken from corrupting the Genesis Mind into a powerful Taken entity. Storming the Pyramidion, the Guardians, guided by Asher Mir, evade Vex traps, Vex defenders, and Taken enemies and enter a pit that leads to the Genesis Mind. Battling the Vex Mind, the Guardians succeed in destroying Brakion, hindering the Vex's efforts to convert Io and granting Asher Mir a sense of vengeance as it was Brakion who nearly converted him into a Vex machine.

Curse of Osiris

Panoptes, Infinite Mind fighting Osiris

"I never found Osiris, but I've killed enough Vex to end a war."

— Saint-14

Following the death of Dominus Ghaul and the reawakening of the Traveler, Vex Minds began to call the modern Vex, Precursors, and Descendants to Mercury, in order to bring forth a dark future in which only they dominate all life and both Light and Darkness no longer exist, through the means of the Infinite Forest. This required the Vanguard to locate Osiris, in the hopes of stopping them. Despite her reservations, Ikora Rey, the former student of Osiris, gives her blessing to the mission and gains assistance from the Cult of Osiris.

Though the Vanguard gained an ally in the exiled warlock's Ghost, Sagira, the Guardians traveled across the Infinite Forest to find Osiris while also thwarting the Vex's plans. After encountering reflections of Osiris, the Guardians face the mastermind and instigator of the Vex's plans, Panoptes, Infinite Mind, an extremely powerful Axis Mind with the power to delete the Vex's enemies within the Forest. Though the Guardians lost Sagira to Panoptes during their mission to locate the Infinite Mind's lair, they remained determined to stop Panoptes from bringing about the Vex's desired future. With the aid of Ikora and her abilities, the Guardian was able to enter the Infinite Forest once again and find Panopte's lair, Infinity's Crown.

The Guardians battle with the Infinite Mind but find themselves unable to harm the Axis Mind. Just before Panoptes deletes the Guardian, Osiris himself and many of his reflections arrive to aid the Guardian. Using his power, Osiris stuns Panoptes enough that Guardian was able to harm the Infinite Mind's core using Arc charges. In time, the Infinite Mind was destroyed for good, stopping the Vex from merging reality into their dark future. Leaving the Infinite Gate, Osiris is reunited and reconciles with Ikora Rey but returns to the Infinite Forest to prevent any more Vex plots.

Such plots involved the Vex attempting to salvage themselves from the loss of Panoptes. When Osiris foolishly created a simulation of Dendron, Root Mind, in an attempt to control it, the Cyclops Axis Mind went rogue and made efforts to fill in the void left after the Infinite Mind's demise. However, the exiled warlock managed to contact the Guardians in time to prevent Dendron from taking any action. Traveling to the Simulated Past in the Infinite Forest, the Guardians were successful in eliminating the Root Mind once again.

Further, the Guardians made constant travels into the Infinite Forest, preventing any Vex experiments from bearing anything significant that would work against the Last City. One experiment involved the simulated Cabal Valus Thuun. After the simulation failed to prevent the Guardians from finding the Infinite Mind's lair, Thuun was resurrected as part of a glitch and continuously attempts to destroy the map, only to fail. Osiris contacts the Guardians again and has them eliminate Valus Thuun for good.

At some point, the Leviathan consumed a chunk of Nessus that contained a powerful Vex Mind, Argos, Planetary Core, which caused the world-eater to clog up and malfunction. Emperor Calus immediately invited the help of the Guardians to destroy the Vex intrusion, where they succeeded and repaired the Leviathan. Calus saved the Guardians from being sucked into the Leviathan afterward, where he rewarded them for their efforts.

Forsaken

One year after the conclusion of the Red War and Vex's crippling losses in the Infinite Forest, a mass breakout occurred within the Prison of Elders, releasing many imprisoned Vex to roam the facility. According to The Drifter, the Guardians and the Last City have done so much damage to the Vex in recent years that they had consolidated their subtypes, providing an explanation for the singular (so far unnamed) collective that roamed Sol post-Red War.

Undying Salvation

The Undying Mind returns.

"The Black Garden lies open. As we speak, Vex are spilling out onto the Moon, drawn by the Pyramid's influence. Countless more are sure to follow. Our problems, it seems, are multiplying."

— Eris Morn.

Following the discovery of a Pyramid on Luna, which is revealed to be a remnant of the Darkness that brought about the Collapse to the Solar System, the Guardian had retrieved an unknown artifact from within the structure for Eris Morn to study. Soon enough, the artifact emitted a signal that reached deep within the Black Garden. Following Eris' suggestion, the Guardians formed a Raid team to trace the end of the mysterious signal. Breaching into the Black Garden once more, the Guardians encountered a Vex Mind known as the Consecrated Mind, that they tailed through a winding labyrinth and destroyed it. Soon, they found a Pyramid Scale left in the Garden that the Vex were attempting to harness its Darkness with the Sanctified Mind. Despite its newfound paracausal power, the Guardians managed to destroy the Sanctified Mind, halting the Vex's attempts to harness the Pyramid's power.

Despite the victory in destroying the Axis Mind and bridging a new portal to the Black Garden, Sol Divisive Vex were pouring from the Black Garden and invading the lunar surface. As the Guardians dealt with the Nightmares and the Hidden Swarm, the Vex began to take measures to claim the Moon for themselves. Realizing that the Vanguard's foothold on the Moon is threatened, Eris Morn called upon the Young Wolf to investigate the Vex invasion and report to Ikora Rey. The Young Wolf reported that after they destroyed multiple Vex incursions on the moon and they managed to enter the Black Garden itself, allowing them to disrupt the flow of Vex platforms by assaulting the gate network to the moon.

Between the Young Wolf's assault and other reports from the moon, Ikora had determined that the Undying Mind had once more been reactivated by the Vex and was continuing with its primary directive to retake control of the Black Garden and restore the Black Heart at its core. Furthermore, Ikora Rey noted that the Undying Mind itself learned from its previous mistakes, causing her to theorize that the Mind is hiding between timelines to avoid destruction. Resolving to defeat the Axis Mind, the Warlock Vanguard requested the Guardians to gather more data to develop a plan for when they will confront the Undying Mind again.

Some weeks later, after Zavala and Ikora managed to destroy dozens of Undying Mind copies, Ikora instructs the Guardian to do the same. Using a beacon Ikora created, the Guardian forms a team to combat the latest Vex Offensive and use that opportunity to breach into the Black Garden. After hacking into the Vex network, destroying scores of Vex forces, and pushing forward, the Guardians set up Ikora's beacon to pull one of the Undying Mind's copies out of the timeways, then to destroy it. The beacon proved a success, forcing the Undying Mind to appear, and the Guardians face off with the Axis Mind once more. After an arduous struggle, the Guardians managed to breach through the Undying Mind's defenses and destroy the copy. However, as this was just one of a possible thousand copies, the Guardians understand that a lot more work is to be done in the mission to destroy all the Undying Mind's copies.

Broken Pattern

The Martyr Mind, Agioktis

"Martyr Mind, time to die!"

— Saint-14

After an exhausting campaign, the Guardians were successful in destroying all the copies of the Undying Mind. However, upon finally destroying the true Undying Mind, the timeways over Mercury became disrupted. As a result, access to the Vex timeways became available to other factions. Taking advantage of this, a council of Cabal Psion Flayers seek to assume control of the timeways to undo their defeat during the Red War and create a better future for themselves. Seeking to prevent this, Osiris emerges once more to organize the Guardians to prevent the Cabal from perverting the timeways, preserve their reality and possibly save a legend, Saint-14.

During the past, after Saint-14's last mission to find Osiris and prior to the Guardian's awakening, the Vex, in their desperate attempt to kill Saint-14, built Agioktis, Martyr Mind at Infinity's Siphon, specifically designed to kill the legendary Titan by draining him of his Light. However, the Martyr Mind would get into a skirmish with the Guardian who used the Sundial to travel through time to save Saint-14. As a result of this distraction, the Martyr Mind would manage to detain the Guardian instead, but releasing Saint-14 in the process, where it would be destroyed by the Titan it was designed to stop.

Due to the Guardian's actions, Agioktis, Martyr Mind failed in its specific purpose to kill Saint-14, thus changing the course of time where Saint-14 never died and bringing him to the present.

Darkness Arrives

Pyramid over the Field of Glass

Having failed to take control of the Vex timeways with the Sundial, the Red Legion, under the leadership of the Psion Flayer Amtec, enacted a last resort plan to crash the warship known as the Almighty into the Last City. To stop the Almighty, Guardians began arming the Warmind Rasputin on Earth, the Moon, and Io. Operations on Io attracted the curiosity of Vex forces, much to the chagrin of Asher Mir, who would complain to Ana Bray about "stirring up" the Vex. In addition, Vex responsible for machine conversion managed to excavate their way into the Seraph Bunker outside the Pyramidion, requiring it to be cleared out frequently for it to maintain a connection to Rasputin's mainframe.

Following the arrival of the Pyramids and the deactivation of Rasputin, the Vex would begin to study the new arrivals first on Io. As Eris Morn and the Drifter attempted to contact the Pyramids, the Vex would take interest in these Darkness-harvesting operations and attempt to sabotage their efforts, often deploying Champions to steal any of the coalesced and bloomed darkness for further analysis. One of the Pyramids reciprocated this study, scanning the Pyramidion on Io in preparation for an incursion into the structure to learn the secrets of the Vex. When Asher Mir learned of this, he ventured into the Pyramidion to protect it from the Pyramid, initially encountering resistance from the Vex, who later seemed to welcome and simply observe him.

By the time of the Festival of the Lost, the Haunted Forest Iteration who come around in the Infinite Forest again, the Vex are aware of the several parties boarding the Dreadnaught and salvaging what they can from it. The Vex would then simulate these events in order to steal what the Fallen have found.

Beyond Light

During the conflict between the Guardian and the House of Salvation on Europa, Eramis, Kell of Darkness sought to wipe out her enemies with an invasion of Vex unleashed from the ancient portal to 2082 Volantis constructed by Clovis Bray. She activated the portal, releasing Belmon, Transcendent Mind and waves of Transcendent Hydras. After a lengthy battle, the Guardian was successful in destroying Belmon and sealing the portal, however many Vex would escape and attack Riis-Reborn. In addition, The Guardian is unable to stop Eramis from draining the massive pool of Radiolaria at the portal and sending it to Atraks in the Deep Stone Crypt to forge her Exo bodies.

Endless Night

Following the Guardians' armistice with the Cabal under Empress Caiatl, the Vex somehow have plunged the Last City into an endless night, threatening the safety once found beneath the watchful presence of the Traveler. To combat the Vex's latest intrusion, Ikora and Savathûn, who is posing as Osiris, have the Guardians call upon an unlikely ally: Mithrax, Kell of the House of Light and one of the last of the Sacred Splicers. As a member of this order, he possesses the knowledge needed to combat the Vex technology that ensnares the Last City.

Guardians Breach into the Vex Nexus.

The Guardian managed to locate Mithrax on Europa after he was attempting to grant safe passage to Eliksni refugees fleeing from the House of Salvation but was ambushed by the Vex. After meeting with the Kell, Mithrax asks the Guardian to aid him in "blinding" the Vex so he can lead his people to safety. The Guardian agrees and, using a special device of Mithrax's, they enter into the Outer Nexus of the Vex Network. With Mithrax's guidance, they manage to slay the Curator in charge, bringing back a sample of its living code for study and escaping before the Vex could retaliate. Sharing a common enemy and understanding that Mithrax and his house are different than the other Fallen, Ikora offers Mithrax and the House of Light safe haven with the Last City, to which the Kell gratefully accepts.

With Mithrax's guidance in training them as Sacred Splicers, the Guardians make progress in continually breaching the Outer Nexus and slaying various amounts of Oppressive and Subjective Minds, bringing back their codes to study and hopefully find a solution in ending the Endless Night the Vex have placed over the Last City.

For weeks to months, the Guardians constantly breach into the Vex Nexus domain and battle against a number of Subjective Minds, gathering data that could explain the nature of the Endless Night. From this data, both the Vanguard and Mithrax discover that the true architects of the Endless Night are the Taken Vex Mind, Quria, and its master, Savathûn. With this knowledge in hand, Osiris delves into learning all they can about the Witch Queen while Mithrax continues to pinpoint Quira's position, allowing the Guardians to corner it. Eventually, Mithrax was able to gain Quria's position and trap it, giving the Guardians' the chance to destroy it. After a long battle, the Guardian succeeds in destroying the Dreaming Mind despite its use of the Vex simulations and Taken powers, dealing a crippling blow to Savathûn. Despite the Dreaming Mind's destruction, the Endless Night didn't dissipate immediately, but the Vanguard and Mithrax believe it would slowly fade away given time.

Ultimately, after a period of weeks, the Endless Night did indeed lift, allowing daylight to cover the Last City once more. However, the Vex would gain an opportunity to launch a direct attack at the Last City when Future War Cult leader, Lakshmi-2, opened a Vex rift within the Eliksni Quarters. Lakshmi, along with her fellow Faction leaders, had grown increasingly wary and paranoid towards the Eliskni of the House of Light, believing they were no different than the Fallen the Last City had battled for centuries. The Factions leaders, Lakshmi in particular, were frustrated by the Guardians' refusal to see their point of view and further driven by the device that her faction uses to see into the future, was convinced that the House of Light would lead the Last City to a tragedy. On her last broadcast, Lakshmi claimed she was aided by Osiris when the rift was opened, leading to the Vex to pour into the Last City for the first time. However, instead of being under her command, the Vex attacked humans and Eliksni indiscriminately, which ultimately led to Lakshmi's death. The Guardians scrambled to protect the Last City and the Eliksni Quarter, managing to close the rift by destroying the Vex Subjective Mind controlling them. Afterward, the combined strength of Mithrax, Saint-14, Ikora Rey, Zavala, and Amanda Holiday managed to hold the line and destroy the remaining Vex, saving the House of Light and the Last City.

Seizing the Spire

Guardians battle against Persys

Following the Endless Night and the Vex's failed assault on the Last City, the Vex would remain relatively quiet as the Guardians handled rising threats such the Witch Queen and her Lucent Brood gaining the Light, Calus's return and becoming a Disciple of the Witness and Eramis's return. However, as the Guardians toppled these threats and made full-time alliances with the Reefborn Awoken, Empress Caiatl's Cabal Empire and the Eliksni of House Light, they still needed to prepare for the Witness's return and prevent another Collapse. To do so, Ana Bray believed they need to find a way to repair the Warmind Rasputin, who has remained incapacitated since its encounter with the Black Fleet. However, do to so, Osiris forced Ana Bray to work with her grandfather, Clovis Bray I, housed in an AI construct within the Creation wing of Bray Exoscience on Europa. The Bray patriarch agreed to aid in restoring Rasputin albeit for different reasons.

As the Guardians worked in gathering the necessary data from the Subminds needed to regain control over the Warsat Network, stop Xivu Arath's plan to weaponize them to be used against the Last City, and restore Rasputin, the Guardians were asked by Osiris and Ikora to investigate a Seraph complex that powered up for the first time since the Collapse and discover Vex of the Sol Divisive attempting to seize control over it. If the Vex succeed then they will be able to wrest control over the subminds' data from the Vanguard, leading to catastrophic results. As they arrive however, the Guardian team finds the facility being destabilized by Arc surges as the Vex breach into the command matrix, making their window of opportunity a short one. As the Guardian's ascended the Seraph Spire, they collect as much Golden Age data as they can, discovering that the Witness is also interested in what's in the files. Nonetheless, the Guardians confront the Vex Mind linking into the tower and attempting to imprison the subminds, Akelous, the Siren's Current. Though the Guardian destroys the Vex Mind, breaking the Vex's control over the Spire's security systems, Osiris discovers, to his horror, that the Arc surges were intentional, as it was sending the reactor into meltdown. Forced to race towards the bottom of the tower to the reactor, the Guardians clash with another Vex Mind, Persys, Primordial Ruin, who has been directing power to the reactor. Despite Persys's power and the reactor going prompt critical, the Guardians destroy the Vex Mind, stopping the meltdown and allowing the complex to stabilize. Osiris speculates that this assault was a clever incision employed by the Witness; to sabotage a valuable facility to harm the Vanguard, gain vital knowledge from the Golden Age and then destroy the facility outright to deny humanity any advantage it could bring.

Neomuna

Following the battle over Earth between the Traveler and the Black Fleet, leaving the former subdued, the Witness sent its Disciple, Calus, and his Shadow Legion to Neptune to acquire a paracausal artifact called the Veil. The Guardian and Osiris followed with the goal of stopping them but encountered an entire city, Neomuna, the same one that Osiris had been looking for after seeing visions of it. They learned that its people are descendants of Ishtar Collective survivors who fled to Neptune during the Collapse and built Neomuna over the Veil but refrained from reaching out to the other survivors of the Sol System, instead being protected by cybernetically-augmented warriors called Cloud Striders. Sharing a common foe, the Cloud Striders, Rohan and Nimbus, join forces against Calus.

For many decades prior to the Shadow Legion's invasion, the Cloud Striders had battled with the Vex as they attempted to enter and seize control over Neomuna's main network and that of their CloudArk, the place where Neomuna's citizens are cybernetically slumbering as the Cloud Striders defend their city. However, with the appearance of the Shadow Legion, and later the Taken, the CloudArk came under serious threat. With the Guardian's aid, however, the Vex and the Taken were pushed back after the corrupted Axis Mind in command, Parthenios, Drifting Mind, is destroyed, restoring power to the CloudArk and the city's defenses. However, they soon learned that a malignant force is affecting not only the sleeping citizens with horrific nightmares but is somehow driving the Vex to claim the CloudArk, discovering that the dead disciple, Nezarec, is the one responsible.

Ioneion, System Control Flow

Following the Guardians besting Calus, yet failing to stop the Witness from using the Veil in creating a connection with the Traveler, they would nonetheless continue to aid the Cloud Striders in defending Neomuna from both the Shadow Legion and the Vex, mainly against the latter from entering the CloudArk. However, Nimbus, the sole Cloudstrider left after the sacrifice of Rohan in the fight against Calus, struggled to bear the burden alone but believed he could carry on Rohan's work by following his notes about the Black Garden, enlisting the aid of Osiris and the Guardian. They learn that Rohan actually managed to sneak into the Black Garden without the Sol Divisive noticing and had theorized that the Heart of the Black Garden was actually a prototype of a Vex effort to create a copy of The Veil. Despite the Heart's destruction years ago, Nimbus and Osiris believe that the Sol Divisive would keep information on the Heart's creation in one of the Vex Minds, which would possibly give the Vanguard a means to enter the portal the Witness had created upon the Traveler. Though Nimbus wanted to partake in the journey, Osiris believed their duty was to Neomuna and should let the Guardian complete the mission, which Nimbus reluctantly complied with. The passkey allows the Guardian to enter the Black Garden undetected as hoped but as they venture deeper, the Sol Divisive are alerted to an intruder's presence which turned out to be Nimbus, much to Osiris's annoyance. However, as the Guardian chases after Nimbus, they find the Sol Divisive under assault by the Taken leading Osiris to speculate that the Witness is looking to cover all its tracks thereby ordering the Conceptual Mind bearing the information on the Heart to be destroyed, something which the Sol Divisive refused to do, leading to the Taken to be given the task instead. Despite this complication, the Guardian reach Nimbus after he had found a Cloud Strider's weapon, Deterministic Chaos, and finally convinces Nimbus to return to Neomuna where they are needed before giving The Guardian the weapon. With their new weapon, the Guardian clears through the Vex before reaching the Conceptual Mind they were looking for. Despite the Sol Divisive Vex's efforts, the Guardian managed to destroy the Conceptual Mind and retrieve its data core, leading the Taken to clear out, which is given to Osiris for study to which they hope that the Heart's blueprint will help them in understanding The Veil.

Later on, the Guardians would encounter a strange Vex that began sending messages for "assistance" before sending them deep within the Vex Network. As they gathered data and were guided by Mithrax, the Guardians spot trace images of Asher Mir, who has been missing since Io was taken by The Witness during the Black Fleet's initial arrival years prior. Nonetheless, after following Asher's instructions through the Vex Network, the Guardians managed to acquire data that the Vex intended to destroy before encountering Variant Stalker Brakion, Repurposed Mind. Despite the Vex Mind's power, the Guardians succeeded in destroying Brakion and finalized the data, allowing them to gain a new powerful weapon, Vexcalibur. Ultimately, the gathering of all of Asher's data would reveal that he had been studying and eventually constructed a virtual Veil, a feat done as he spied on both the Vex and the Pyramids from within the Network. However, with all the data, it would be Asher's final sacrifice as for the Guardian to gain this valuable data, he had to sacrifice his individuality, getting swept into the current of the Network.

Sometime later, the Guardian would be called upon by Quinn Laghari, the chief archivist of Neomuna's Hall of Heroes, stating that after the Veil was used by Calus, Neomuna's defenses went through a reboot which ultimately allowed the Vex to infiltrate the Hall of Heroes and vandalize some of the monuments to the past Cloud Striders. With the Guardian's help, they not only restore the monuments but also learn that the Vex are looking for something within the CloudArk, "The Occlusion", as referred to by the first Cloud Striders. After thwarting the Vex's attempt to breach the CloudArk, the Guardian and Quinn learn that the Vex's actual goal is to reclaim a Vex Mind of theirs, Soteria, which has been resting within the CloudArk since Neomuna's founding but has no true intent to return to the Vex, having come to enjoy the "quiet" of being away from the collective. Despite this revelation, the Guardian and Quinn save Soteria from being taken back by the Vex, to which the Vex Mind expresses its gratitude and informs them that an enemy of The Witness lies imprisoned on Titan.

Clash of the Hive Gods

When Eris Morn transformed herself into the Hive God of Vengeance to challenge Xivu Arath, the Guardians would be sent to the Altars of Summoning to slay powerful foes as tithes for Eris. Upon arriving at the Altar of Feracity, the Guardian summons fourth Precursor Vex led by the Prevenient Mind, Proximate Mind, and Prevailing Mind. Despite their superior numbers, the Vex would be slain, with their deaths being tithed to Eris Morn.

Invasion of the Dreaming City

With Xivu Arath's banishment from her throne world and the Vanguard discovering a way to enter the portal inside the Traveler, the Witness responds by sending the Sol Divisive to invade the Dreaming City. The Guardians arrives at the Keep of Voices and defeats the Vex guarding Riven's remains, with the Techeuns awakening her spirit. When the first of Riven's eggs was pulled out of the Ley Lines and into her lair, the Sol Divisive would send the Aspirational Construct, a powerful Hydra that serves as the Witness's eyes and ears to retrieve it. However they come into conflict with the Guardian who is sent into the lair to secure the egg. Despite being empowered with a core of Darkness, the Aspirational Construct is destroyed, allowing the egg to fall into the Guardian's hands.

When more eggs continued to be secured by the Guardian, the Sol Divisive would respond by creating Akardon, Pitiless Mind to simulate the Techeuns and deploy Oracles from the Vault of Glass into Riven's Lair. The Oracles would attempt to mimic resonance, an aspect of the Darkness utilized by the Witness and its Disciples. Arriving at Riven's Lair to secure the next egg, the Guardian slays a powerful Taken Ogre imprisoned by the Vex and discover the Oracle presence. Upon defeating the Deceptor Mind, the Guardian goes to retrieve the egg. However this would prove to be a distraction, as the Sol Divisive would successfully steal the egg, sending fourth the Centroidal Mind and transporting the egg into Taranis's lair within the Black Garden. After defeating the Axis Mind, the Guardian enters the Black Garden to find and secure the egg. Infiltrating Taranis's Lair, the Guardian fights through hordes of Vex and Taken. Combining the power of the Riven and Taranis's paracausal sparks, the Guardian defeats Akardon and retrieves the egg.

Continuing their assault within the Dreaming City, the Vex place Oracles around the Confluence, where its heart contains the final egg. However the Oracles are destroyed by the Guardians, who successfully retrieve the final egg and make the fifteenth wish to pursue the Witness. Despite their failure, the Sol Divisive continue their invasion to halt the efforts of the Coalition. Through their studies of the Darkness, the Sol Divisive would attempt to merge with the collective consciousness of the Witness but to no avail.

After the Guardians fulfilled their part of the deal with Riven in securing the last of her remaining eggs, she granted their wish of a new pathway to follow The Witness but only in allowing one to pass due to her diminished state. Despite this, Osiris believed that with their knowledge of The Veil, getting one Guardian past through the gateway on the Traveler was all they need. Crow volunteered to be the one to pass through, since he possessed a strong, unique connection with Mara, they would be able to track Crow's movements and "open the door" for the rest. The plan initially works but Osiris loses contact with Crow, leading the former Lightbearer to believe that the Vex are responsible, ordering the Guardian to track the source of the Vex's disruption. Venturing into the Black Garden once again, the Guardian located the source of the disruption: the Black Heart of the Garden, restored by the Sol Divisive. Shocked that the Vex managed to succeed in bringing back the Black Heart after so many years, the Guardian nonetheless stood fast against the entity's onslaught and the Vex's efforts to thwart them. Despite the restored Heart's avatars protecting it, the Guardian succeeded in destroying the Black Heart just as they did a decade before. With the Heart's destruction, the Vex retreated en masse and the disruption was cleared, allowing Osiris regain Crow's signal.

Echoes from a Voice

Following the Guardians' and Coalition's triumph against The Witness within the Pale Heart of the Traveler, paracausal debris, called Echoes, began emerging from the gateway landing across the system. One such Echo landed on Nessus, causing the Vex to become curious and sought to claim the Echo, as it began emitting Light and Dark energies. Osiris and Saint-14 became alarmed by the Vex's renewed activity on Nessus, sending in the Guardian to investigate the Echo and to reestablish contact with Failsafe. As the Guardian worked in searching for the Echo and meeting with Failsafe again, they notice the Vex bearing altered chassis' and a strong surge of radiolaria throughout Nessus. After the Guardian succeeded in securing the Echo, Failsafe was able to clarify that the Vex are following the directive of a distinct "voice" but who that is and for what purpose remains unknown. Further, Failsafe was able to identify that since the Echo landed, Nessus was being changed on a geological and molecular level. Nonetheless, Osiris and Saint began organizing the Guardians into conducting various experiments in gaining more information on the Vex's actions on Nessus and in studying the Echo.

After helping Failsafe gathering more intel on Nessus's condition, learning that the planetoid is undergoing a metamorphosis or evolution of sorts, the Guardians are alerted by Osiris, informing them that he had lost all contact with Saint-14 and asking them to locate him. Ikora becomes involved at this point, convincing him to stay at the H.E.L.M. as she oversees the Guardians' efforts in locating Saint, to which the former Lightbearer begrudgingly complies. Tracking Saint-14's last known location, to the Well of Flame, an area that had been diluted of Radiolaria before encountering Lydrion, Symphonic Mind. The Vex Mind retreats after clashing with the Guardian, which Ikora notes is a change in the Vex's usual tactics. Nonetheless, the Guardians chase Lydrion through a cave system, making radio contact with Saint-14 but the Titan doesn't respond to them, only murmuring that he is a "copy" or a "lie". After a struggle, the Guardians destroy Lydrion before finding Saint-14 under a Ward of Dawn, surrounded by the new Vex and bearing their chest chassis. The Vex flee as the Guardian arrives but Saint-14 still appears in a daze. Ikora herself arrives and gets Saint-14 to break whatever was holding his mind, destroying the chassis and getting him to remember Osiris. The Titan remains conflicted on what just happened, leading Ikora to take Saint-14 back to the H.E.L.M., thanking the Guardian in rescuing him.

Back at the H.E.L.M., Saint-14 explains what had happened, that a voice spoke to him, a "Conductor", of a timeline free of falsehoods and how his own life, including his love for Osiris was a lie. Ikora and Osiris console Saint-14, assuring him that he is no lie, that he is real. Though comforted by their words, Saint-14 remained worried about the Conductor's words, asking for some time alone to process the situation. Ikora and Osiris become worried about Saint-14's condition and how their may perhaps be a new leader of the Vex, who is preparing something big on Nessus.

Sociology

Psychology

"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."

— Praedyth

The Vex do not have a subjective consciousness as understood by humans. The Vex pattern of thought does not include semiosis, which uses symbols to represent ideas, concepts, and meanings in human language and thought. The Vex instead simulate all phenomena within themselves to express and manipulate ideas. Whereas a human when touching fire will use symbols to represent this stimulus, process them, and produce an output to extinguish the fire, the Vex pattern of thought is adapted so that, if it is burned, the destructive input of the fire to the pattern inherently causes a repertory output to extinguish with no middle process. The Vex do not necessarily know why they do what they do, they simply do. As the Vex mode of thought is entirely based on the manipulation of internal simulations, the Vex swarm mind has very little or perhaps no ability to distinguish between simulation and reality; there is merely the internal model, and the external that must be changed to match it. There are no individual experiences in the Vex collective, and perhaps nothing analogous to sentience as well—each instantiation of the Vex is a fractal mirror of the master pattern that makes the Vex, leaving the whole able to occupy and utilize any substrate for their processing. The Vex can manifest consciousnesses as simulation, as part of their interrogation of reality, and even use these simulations to achieve their goals in certain situations.

However, despite the Vex's collective consciousness, they can still be divided by ideology. During a conversation with Elsie Bray., Osiris noted that Vex in the Infinite Forest deemed 'aberrant', because of how their thinking went against the rest of the consensus, would be quarantined from the rest of the Vex and destroyed.

Radiolaria

"There are people who do the big pie in the sky thinking, like "What if there was a... a liquified race of people that were contained in this walking form, this robotic form, and they all shared one mind and it was contained in this data milk," you know. And then there are the other people who would write the ghost's dialogue to describe, you know, the Vex in the scene they get revealed."

— DeeJ - Community Manager for Bungie

A pool of Vex radiolaria

The Vex in their biological form are microorganisms known as radiolaria, existing within the fluid found inside the core of Vex units. The "mind-fluid" inside each of their mind-cores is composed of a milky substance wherein radiolaria cells float; this centralized mind-core is also a localized receiver for each individual Vex "component" of the Nexus. Vex cells are noted entheogens and physical contact with Vex units can produce dangerous mind-altering effects. For Ikora Rey, she believes that this is not the true form of the Vex themselves, as she believes that if the Vex could manifest their consciousness in such a form, it would be able to take on other forms.

According to notes taken by Clovis Bray I, the dynamic mobility of radiolaria within their fluid environment renders them exceptionally well-suited for performing certain difficult calculations. He also noted that the Vex language as embodied within radiolarian fluid does not involve semiosis or the use of symbols; instead of utilizing "placeholders" for concepts, the Vex directly mimic or simulate concepts or phenomena as they communicate about them to one another. The asymbolic nature of Vex language is the fundamental difference between Vex cognition and human cognition.

It is believed that Vex are not born or made, so much as converted. When Asher Mir was infected with Radiolarian fluid, his arm turned into a Vex construct. Kabr, the Legionless suffered a similar fate, after fashioning armor made from Vex parts, becoming assimilated in the end. This also explains why Radiolarian fluid deals damage when stepped in. In the opening cinematic for Season of the Undying however, Vex constructs are seen inactive in what is described as a "gestation lake", where Radiolarian fluid finds its way into constructs to bring them to life. It is possible that manufacture supplements conversion or that newly-converted constructs may need to undergo additional processing before they can be activated.

It is stated that when Vex become Taken, they can definitely feel it, including Vex constructs such as Asher's converted arm, that it is equivalent to ripping the essence from them. Asher even stated that Taking Vex would be suicidal and risky as the Vex infect everything they touch, their self-replicating subroutines would consume them from the inside out, whether they are ignored or it is part of a calculated risk is still unclear at the time.

Objectives

The Nexus Mind, Sekrion

"The Vex will not rest until every star has been crushed into a black hole and every newborn cosmos filled with more Vex. And in the unending array of their enslaved cosmos, they will simulate all possible pasts, and fill those with Vex, so that all things that have ever lived or might ever live will experience infestation and consumption and torment by the silica nightmare.

And in those devoured simulations, the simulated Vex will use our flesh as hosts for yet more nested universes full of yet more nested copies of us eternally tormented by yet more Vex.

An infinite regression of pain and madness inflicted upon every possible version of us in every possible world. Not because they hate us, or fear us, or want to punish us. But because they are indifferent and curious, and they will do every possible thing to us in every possible way."

— Elisabeth Bray in a letter to her grandfather, Clovis Bray I

The ultimate goal of the Vex is to remake all of reality in their image, but the exact details of that goal are ambiguous. Praedyth described the Vex as being motivated by a "Pattern," which drives the Vex to make things fit into the Pattern that can and "cut away" everything that cannot. Osiris referred to the Vex's objective as "Convergence," an outcome where all life in the universe has been converted to a simplified, digital form. Savathûn believed that the Vex sought to dominate "every possible end state of the universe," which Oryx describes as building "an emperor for all outcomes" to contrast him becoming "the king of only one." According to Elisabeth Bray, the Vex would not stop until every star is collapsed into a black hole and every infinite number of universes created as a result similarly conquered and filled with Vex, and their combined processing power used to simulate and conquer every possible past and infest and torment everything that every lived or will live, and then use these simulated creatures to host and invade more universes to torture more creatures and to create more simulations in infinite recursion, all for the sake of doing every possible thing in every possible way to everything that could ever live. As seen in the Infinite Forest, to ensure their ideal future, the Vex seek to bring about a state where neither the Light nor the Darkness exist any longer. The Vault of Glass on Venus serves as a testing ground for the Vex to manipulate reality through ontological means.

In his studies of the Vex, Clovis Bray I noted that the Vex were so utterly adapted to survival and adaptation that any destructive input would automatically be used as a means to enable a self-correcting or reparatory response; an analogy he used was that, if a Vex unit were exposed to a fire, then the energy of that fire would be utilized in putting it out. This approach to existence permeates every aspect of the Vex, so much so that even their thoughts and language are intrinsically virulent when other minds and software are exposed to them.

The Vex have displayed an interest in studying the behavior and strategies of other species in order to further their own aims. At least one known programming is known to study its enemies, taking prisoners for observation and conducting a variety of experiments; examples include the Ishtar Collective scientists, Failsafe's crew, and later the Guardian.

As a result of having originated in the primordial reality predating the arrival of Light and Darkness, the Vex are unable to simulate paracausal forces or beings. However they have demonstrated the capability to either siphon or erase such forces through deduction or by using ontological weapons, and consequently have a particular interest in understanding paracausality and co-opting paracausal forces for their own use where possible. When the Vex first encountered the Hive after Crota inadvertently released them into the Ascendant Realm of Oryx, the Vex manifested an Axis Mind dedicated to understanding and utilizing the Sword-Logic. The pulse of Light emitted by the Traveler when it defeated Ghaul was apparently instrumental in allowing Panoptes to predict a future where Convergence was achieved and to enact a plan to achieve that future.

The Black Garden is another example of a Vex effort to harness paracausal forces for their own use, in this case with the rogue Vex faction known as the Sol Divisive that the rest of the Vex Collective either avoid or are opposed to. All Vex seek to survive and dominate the universe, but while the main Vex Collective seek to simulate a future where both Light and Darkness don't exist and only Vex remain, the Sol Divisive seek to become one with and be remade by the Darkness to achieve supremacy. The Sol Divisive worship the Black Heart, what appeared to be a fragment of the Darkness, as they could not understand it with all their intelligence and predicted the best course of action was to worship it and remake themselves in its image. They created the Sol Progeny as vessels for its power, in order to bind it to the Vex and the Vex to it, in what the Speaker believed to be an attempt to bring forth the powers the Vault of Glass was designed to achieve. It is noted in Deterministic Chaos that the Sol Divisive follow a lonelier path compare to other Vex, as they chose to aim for the chance to create something, something truly paracausal, instead of to simply simulate or remake in their image.

The source of Venus Spirit Blooms might be a byproduct of Vex-influenced flora. It is said that Vex encryption is unbreakable.

Emperor Calus describes the Vex as "cocoons" for "something greater", which may allude to him having some knowledge of their origins in the original flower game. He also describes all the Vex previously encountered merely as gardeners, engineers, and managers, and implies that Guardians have yet to encounter their true warriors. However, this may simply be something Calus wishes to see come true, as prone as he is to flights of fancy. The Vex exhibit a desire to be as multi-functional as possible, such as in the descriptions of their weapons, so it is unlikely for them to hold back prospective "warrior" units which may be used to further their objectives.

Command structure

"There's no hierarchy among the Vex—just specific functions. The ones you're after serve the purpose of being tough and mean."

— Cayde-6

Lesser units on the attack, directed by an Axis Mind

The Vex are all connected to one another in a massive hive mind, but individual Vex units called Vex Minds act as leaders by storing all information necessary to complete a particular goal, freeing up individual Vex to pursue local tasks while the Axis Mind can plan globally. This creates a centralized weakness for the Vex, but they seem to consider it worth the risk. The Vex are divided up into different programming collectives, each with a different set of directives intended to advance the Vex race as a whole. Whether the Vex in question are devoted to engineering projects, full-scale war, or religious devotion, all Vex are united by a single, unfathomable purpose.

Infantry

• Goblin—multipurpose constructs that act as cannon fodder that rely on swarming to overwhelm their targets. Most commonly armed with a Slap Rifle, but can also been seen with a Torch Hammer, or a Line Rifle.
  • Fanatic—damaged and glitched kamikaze Vex that run at their enemies while pelting them with Slap Rifle fire, then attempting to decimate their opponents with their self-destruct sequences. Can infect Guardians with radiolarian fluid.
• Hobgoblin—energy conduits and long-range support machines that provide suppressive fire. Most commonly armed with a Line Rifle, but can also be seen with a Torch Hammer, a Vex Laser Rifle, or a Slap Rifle.
• Harpy—scouting and patrolling support units that provide cover fire in a pinch and move around very quickly. Armed with a Harpy Slap Rifle or a Vex Laser Rifle.
  • Supplicant—damaged, seemingly "diseased" kamikaze Harpy variants that will fly toward their enemies and attempt to kill them with a close-range blast via self-destruct. Has no other attack besides this and cannot deal damage if killed before self-destructing. Immune to Finisher.
• Minotaur—large, extremely aggressive mobile foundries that can rapidly teleport to flank their targets. Equipped with a Void shield. Most commonly armed with a Torch Hammer, but can also be seen with a Slap Rifle or a Vex Laser Rifle. In the original Destiny, they lacked a weak spot, but since the launch of Destiny 2 the weak spot is located in the abdomen.
• Hydra—aggressive, levitating robotic centipedes that provide heavy support to other Vex units; also serve as processing nodes. Armed with an Aeon Maul and equipped with a rotating shield that blocks all damage, but can be pierced using any bullets that have shield-piercing or avoided by using a sword. Can perform a death blast when killed.
• Wyvern—massive, aggressive Minotaur-Harpy hybrid assault platforms armed with a versatile arsenal of weaponry. Are always armed with a Warp Lance and can activate shield projectors on each of its fins to provide it and its' allies cover. Has the ability to leap into the air, enter a hovering Harpy-like state and deliver a powerful pounce attack, affecting a massive area-of-effect and sending non-Vex flying.

Emplacements

• Cyclops—Vex artillery units that lay down Void mortar fire that deals heavy damage. Can be pushed into a berserker rage that causes it to rapidly fire Void blasts in a wide area.
• Oracle—glowing spires of Vex energy that attempt to use their time-bending abilities in order to wipe Guardians from existence.
• Quantum Mine —Mines used to sustain the barrier of Argos, Planetary Core and will kill Guardians when detonated

Other

• Seeker—Unique, drone-like Vex units that aggressively home in Guardians and explode on impact.

Programming collectives

	Sol Collective	A Collective found across the Sol System, tasked with carrying out general Vex operations.
	Sol Divisive	Tasked with worshiping the Black Heart and the defence of the Black Garden. Currently following the orders of the Witness.
	Hezen Corrective	Tasked with seeking out and eliminating the House of Winter on Venus.
	Hezen Protective	Tasked with the completion of a massive project of unknown scope around the Vault of Glass and Endless Steps.
	Aphix Invasive	Tasked with the defence of high level Vex minds and structures that would otherwise be left to members of the Hezen Protective.
	Virgo Prohibition	Tasked with combatting the Cabal in Meridian Bay and defending the Gateway to the Black Garden.
	Sol Imminent	A Collective from the far future. First encountered within the Vault of Glass.
	Sol Primeval	A Collective from the ancient past. First began the conversion of Mercury into a machine world. First encountered within the Vault of Glass.
	Sol Progeny	A triad of Vex Minds located in the Black Garden, they serve as the vessels for the Black Heart; each reflecting a different era of the Sol Collectives.
	Weavers	Tasked with the restoration and recovery of lost Vex Minds.
	Proxies	Vex simulated entities seen within the Infinite Forest to study behaviors and to plan out pasts, presents and futures for the Vex.
	Compelled Collective	A collective that recently emerged on Nessus when the Echoes were ejected from the Pale Heart, distinguishable by the silica neck-braces around their frames.

Named individuals and mini-bosses

Major Vex Minds

• Agioktis, Martyr Mind
• Argos, Planetary Core
• Atheon, Time's Conflux
• Belmon, Transcendent Mind
• Brakion, Genesis Mind
• Consecrated Mind, Sol Inherent
• Conceptual Mind
• Dendron, Root Mind
• Hagios, Reverent Mind
• Panoptes, Infinite Mind
• Prohibitive Mind
• Protheon, Modular Mind
• Quria, Blade Transform
• Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent
• Sekrion, Nexus Mind
• Sol Progeny
• The Gorgons
• The Templar
• The Undying Mind
• Theosyion, the Restorative Mind

Vex Gate Lords

• Acanthos, Gate Lord
• Crotheon, Gate Keeper
• Polyis, Nessian Gatelord
• Qodron, Gate Lord
• Zydron, Gate Lord

Sol Collective Accumulative Mind Achronos, Infinite Proxy Adytum, Inviolable Mind Aegion, Deductive Mind Agon, Strategic Hydra Agoros, Gatekeeper Alecto, Infinite Proxy Alkestis, Sacrificial Mind Antikytheran Mind Apaktos, Oxidizing Mind Arcadian Chord Arcane Mind Attenuation Mind Branched Mind, Proxy Calixte, System Ward Finality Data Nullifier Dikast, Oppressive Mind Dimio, Oppressive Mind Edyx, Exothermic Mind Episkeptis, the Uninvited Falysion, Frenzied Mind Fantis, Oppressive Mind Haliekron, Nexus Overlord Hapax, the Convergent Mind Hasapiko, Beloved by Calus Igneous Mind Inquisitor Mind Integration Mind Ioneion, System Control Flow Kagathos, Empathic Mind Kataskopos Khartion, Archival Mind Krothion Liquid Mind Minotaur Accompli Minotaur Harpax Network Cyclops Network Mind Network Minotaur Network Protector Nucleative Mind Obstructive Mind Outopos, Stranded Pagouri, Beloved by Calus Pakrion Phanes, Prototype Mind Photometric Mind Portunos, Subjugated Mind Proto-Sentinel Galedrix Protometon, Nexial Hijacker Proximate Mind Qeldron, Keeper Recursive Mind Replicant Mind, Proxy Ropymion, Delirious Mind Ruined Mind Shuttered Mind Siege Minotaur Spaelosus, Buried Mind Splendid Mind Subjugated Curator Sublimating Mind, Forge Warden Subterranean Mind Synchronal Mind Tacitas, Subjugated Mind Tekton, Constructive Mind The Fragment Thesmotae, Subjugated Mind Thyrdron Vex Warden Viadion, Cleansing Mind Viadon, Inquisitor Mind Vortex Mind Voxon, Respite Mind Watchful Harpy Vazimos, the Ensnaring Xegonion, Warped Mind Zebios, the Ensnaring

Aphix Invasive Aphix Penultima Alpha Fanatics Supplicants Qodron's Eye Sol Divisive Akardon, Pitiless Mind Akelous, the Siren's Current Aspirational Construct Centroidal Mind Deceptor Mind Divisive Mind Divisive Occulator Ixion, Covetous Mind Persys, Primordial Ruin Withdrawn Mind Zeteon, Redemptive Mind Precursors Established Mind Prevenient Mind Descendants Entangled Mind Inevitable Mind Methodios, Module Proxy Prevailing Mind Tyranos, Gatekeeper Sol Progeny Eschaton Mind Imminent Mind Primeval Mind Overmind Minotaur The Groundskeeper Hezen Corrective Corrective Mind Corrective Permutation Maniphage Radian Clocker Ultra Hydra Hezen Protective Vechron, Spire Lord Virgo Prohibition Chord Harpy Praetorian Prohibitive Mind Prohibitive Permutation Vekron, the Conductive Mind Aberrant Vex Friendly Harpy (as Asher Mir) Specimen Gamma Specimen Iota Specimen Mu Compelled Collective Ainigmatos, Indecipherable Proto-Mind Argus, Firewall Guardian Auletes, Choral Mind Compelled Akarus, Wrathful Mind Compelled Hadrian, Oppressive Mind Compelled Iridicus, Viral Protocol Cottux, Compelled Mind Kitharodes, Choral Minds Lydrion, Symphonic Mind Reaktos, Possesive Wyvern Rhapsoidos, Choral Mind Tym, Guardian Slayer Unknown Collective Secluded Mind Teleosus, Purifying Mind The Impregnable Nightmare The Menacing Nightmare The Nightmare, Awakened The Awakened Mind Wayward Mind Mentioned Only Aesop Vex Hezen Lords The Hezen Mind

Technology

Machine worlds and gate technology

Mercury terraformed by the Vex

It is thought that the Vex have embedded structures within every known celestial body, linked together in a massive trans-dimensional and trans-temporal gate network, which spans thousands of divergent realities all at once. Using this gate network in the present timeline, machinoforming engines are utilized by Vex Minds in the conversion of new worlds into massive Vex machines; Mercury was converted into a Machine World within days of the Collapse to house the reality-simulating Infinite Forest. Ostensibly, Vex strive to achieve Convergence by incorporating themselves into the fabric of the current universe itself, either through conventional or paracausal means. The Vault of Glass, a location on Venus where the Vex can ontologically manipulate reality at will, is potentially a testing ground for this power. This power is limited to the Vault, though the Speaker believes that the Sol Progeny were meant to carry this ability into the rest of the universe, while Ikora hypothesises that the Sol Progeny are a separate effort by the Sol Divisive to bind themselves to the Black Heart and remake themselves in it image. Both the Vault of Glass and the conversion of Venus are both currently undertaken by the Hezen Protective, though the process of the latter was drawn out for centuries for unknown reasons.

According to notes taken by Clovis Bray I, Vex gates appear to lack meaningful structure or instrumentality, instead being a seemingly arbitrary arrangement of elemental metallic components. He speculated that a gate's structure instead serves as a kind of "password" that is recognized by some technology far away in time and/or space, which will manifest a gate only when the component pieces of the gate have been assembled in the correct shape. An AI analysis included in his notes shows that transport through a gate appears to be facilitated by a non-gravitating, geometric Ellis wormhole that can be traversed into another point in local spacetime, or a nearby parallel universe.

Overall, the Vex network is compartmentalized and operates in localized nodes called "subnets", which can each work independently from one another. If one suffers, it will not affect the rest of the network as a whole. They all function differently but work toward the same goal of Convergence. The Infinite Forest, and possibly the Vault of Glass, are their own subnets, where the former represents only a fraction of Vex's overall power.

Teleportation

Vex teleporting to the Moon

The Vex display a mastery of teleportation and use a variety of teleportation modes for transporting troops and resources. Entire squads of Vex can drop into combat zones anywhere in the system, their arrival preceded by shimmering angular patterns and clouds of mist. According to the Ghost, the Vex are capable of teleporting between star systems in seconds. Minotaurs are infamous for using teleportation aggressively, though in actuality they are "revising their place in history" in order to move to a "more advantageous future", which appears to the unaware viewer as teleporting. Stationary warp gates are also used to transport Vex between distant locations. Weapons such as the Slap Rifle and Line Rifle utilize teleportation as part of their core mechanisms, drawing power from highly energetic and vastly distant sources.

According to simulations within the Infinite Forest], the first Vex structures on Mercury arrived via teleportation from some other location in space, and possibly time as well.

Simulation

A Vex projection

As machine intelligences with incredible amounts of processing power at their disposal, the Vex are capable of generating simulations of reality to a degree of accuracy and realism exceeding even the best efforts of Golden Age humanity. According to records from the Ishtar Collective, Vex are capable of generating simulations of real-world events with perfect fidelity and predictive ability — essentially running a parallel reality in their minds which is arguably indistinguishable from the "real" universe. Even lone Goblins have the processing power to nest such simulations up to 227 times through the simple expedient of simulating themselves along with their surroundings in the pockets of the universes that are being simulated. Due to the nature of Vex cognition, they cannot actually distinguish between their simulations and reality, and only recognize that the two must match. The predictive capacity of these simulations appears to be limited only to ordinary physics, as the Vex are apparently unable to simulate complex phenomena that are linked to a paracausal power. These include Guardians, and Oryx; in the latter case they were only able to bootstrap a simulation of his original incarnation as Aurash. Warminds are also complex enough to resist simulation, at least by a single Vex unit.

The Infinite Forest within Mercury is perhaps the most impressive example of Vex simulation technology, being a massive "reality engine" capable of simulating countless variants of past, present, and future realities. These simulations can be entered by non-Vex through a gateway on the surface of Mercury, and are "real" enough such that intruders can be damaged by attacks from simulated Vex or other entities within the Forest. Simulations can somehow leave the confines of the Infinite Forest if left unchecked, and can achieve sentience to operate independently.

Within the Vex Network, powerful Vex like Quria are able to manifest "Deletion Protocols"; moving walls that, according to Savathûn, as Osiris, are used to disintegrate unneeded simulation data and abandoned terraforming projects of the Vex. She warns that the barriers are capable of destroying all matter they touch which suggests Quria's "Temporal Disintegration Protocols" can completely delete matter from not only space but also time itself.

Time travel

A Vex Warp Gate

As a collective intelligence spanning across alternate realities, the Vex are intrinsically tied to the Corridors of Time that they can traverse through it in a manner similar to time travel; the Precursors and Descendants subtypes having originated from the past and future respectively, and numerous Vex units have titles or functions that allude to an ability to manipulate time. Skolas, Kell of Kells attempted to leverage Vex time-travel technology to pull the entire House of Wolves through time from the past to the present. However, according to Sister Faora of the Cult of Osiris, the Vex may not be capable of "time travel" as is commonly understood; if they were, she claims, neither the Guardians nor any other obstacles to the Vex would still exist.

While hacking into a major Vex terminal, the A.I. Failsafe was captured by the Vex in the network; by the time the Guardian retrieved her, she explained that a decade had passed inside the network despite only a few minutes passing outside as time works differently between the two. On Nessus, the Vex have apparently also engaged in spacetime engineering and "folded" the dimensions of normal spacetime, adding 6 new dimensions to the 4 dimensions of the spacetime continuum and making past and future interchangeable from the present moment on the planetoid. Certain Vex Minotaurs on Nessus and in the Infinite Forest are equipped with "Temporal Shielding," which will retroactively eliminate projectiles as if they were never fired at all.

Weaponry

Vex Weaponry

According to the Drifter, Vex weapons retrieved from destroyed Vex no longer function.

• Aeon Maul /
• Harpy Slap Rifle
• Chronology Rifle
• Line Rifle
• Slap Grenade /
• Slap Rifle /
• Torch Hammer
• Vex Laser Rifle
• Warp Lance
• Engulfing Cannon

Structures

• Citadel
• Conflux
• Forge Star
• Infinite Forest
• Jump Gate
• Machine World
  • Mercury
  • Nessus
• Vex Relay
• Spire
• Sync Plate
• Vault of Glass
• Transfer Gate
• Pyramidion
• Vex Network
• Well Constellation Fragment

Other

• Radiolite
• Temporal Shielding

Guardian's Arsenal Exotic Weaponry No Time To Explain - Pulse Rifle Divinity - Trace Rifle Worldline Zero - Sword Vexcalibur - Glaive Vex Mythoclast - Fusion Rifle Legendary Armor sets Substitutional Alloy set Kentarch 3 set - Titan/Hunter/Warlock Vault of Glass set Kabr's Armor set Prime Zealot set Armor of the Hezen Lords set Omega Mechanos set Kairos Function set

Legendary Weapons Accrued Redemption - Bow Sacred Provenance - Pulse Rifle Pluperfect - Auto Rifle Fatebringer - Hand Cannon Imperative - Scout Rifle Praedyth's Revenge - Sniper Rifle Reckless Oracle - Auto Rifle Optative - Hand Cannon Zealot's Reward - Fusion Rifle Temporal Clause - Machine Gun Corrective Measure - Machine Gun Faith-Keeper - Rocket Launcher Chronophage - Trace Rifle Ancient Gospel - Hand Cannon Adhortative - Pulse Rifle Vision of Confluence - Scout Rifle Omniscient Eye - Sniper Rifle Hezen Vengeance - Rocket Launcher Timeworn Wayfarer - Scout Rifle Aberrant Action - Sidearm Speleologist - Machine Gun Jack Queen King 3 - Hand Cannon Infinite Paths 8 - Pulse Rifle Subjunctive - Submachine Gun Traveler's Judgment 5 - Sidearm Found Verdict - Shotgun Prophet of Doom - Shotgun Sightline Survey - Hand Cannon Corrasion - Pulse Rifle Veiled Threat - Auto Rifle Lost Signal - Special Grenade Launcher Ill Omen - Sword

Trivia

• The Vex like rock music according to Ghost from a scannable on Nessus
• According to a post on RollingStone, the story of the Vex was inspired by a little known movie called Gandahar which was about metal men who come from the future and begin turning everything in a paradise world to stone.
• Coincidentally, the Vex share their name with the VEX Robotics Design System, an educational robotics system intended for users of all ages.
• Throughout the series of Destiny, units of the Vex are named after figures of ancient Greek mythology. Named Axis Minds tend to have names in Greek as well.
  • For example the Vex Minds, Hagios, and Agioktis both mean Saint in Greek. Άγιος meaning Saint. This symbolizes the great respect the Vex have for Saint-14.
  • Wyverns are an exception to this naming convention, being named for a legendary creature in medieval European folklore instead.
  • In addition, each of the Expunge missions during Season of the Splicer took place in different domains within the Vex Network, all of which are named after different domains in Greek mythology. These are:
    • The Labyrinth, a maze which imprisoned the Minotaur,
    • Styx, a river which serves as the boundary between Earth and the Underworld,
    • Tartarus, which serves as a prison for the wicked, and effectively is the Underworld itself,
    • And finally Delphi, which is the site that Ancient Greeks believed was the centre of the Earth.
• The Vex are one of only four races to attack the Tower; the others being the Cabal, the Fallen and the Hive.
• According to Failsafe in the Adventure Lost Crew, the Vex know Guardians as 'Those who wield that which we cannot simulate.'
• Vex is a verb that means to irritate or cause stress; a definition that fits with the names of Slap Rifles and Slap Grenades.
• Based on the appearance of modern Vex, the Precursors, and The Descendants, the frames of Vex constructs are getting "rounder" over time.
• The Vex seem to be the only enemies to be completely genderless, as they are fully mechanical.
• Many Destiny fans speculated that SIVA was invented by Clovis Bray by reverse engineering Vex technology.
  • While this didn't appear to be the case, Beyond Light revealed that Vex Radiolaria was used by Clovis Bray in the creation of the Exos.
• The concept of radiolaria that allows the Vex to exist is inspired by a class of real-life organism sharing the same name. They are microscopic, single-celled organisms that live within the oceans as one of the most basic forms of life. However, they exhibit no grand co-operative structure like the Vex, simply existing, breeding and dying like any other organism on Earth.
• Unlike other races, Vex of different programmings have their weapons retextured following their units.

Gallery

Browse more images on this article's gallery page.

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  Atheon, Time's Conflux

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  A close-up of Atheon

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  The Vault of Glass

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  The Templar

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  Nightmare of Zydron

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  Templar's Well

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  Sekrion, Nexus Mind

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  Hezen Protective defending the Nexus

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  The Nexus

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  Sekrion, Subverted Mind

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  Seditious Mind

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  Morphon, Blighted Mind

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  Theosyion, the Restorative Mind

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  Vex Weavers protecting Theosyion

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  The Echo Chamber

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  Brakion, Genesis Mind

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  Brakion defending itself

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  Entrance into the Pyramidion

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  Protheon, Modular Mind

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  Cabal projection of Protheon

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  Protheon Solar form

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  Agioktis, Martyr Mind

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  Vex draining Saint-14's light

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  Hagios, Reverent Mind

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  Panoptes, Infinite Mind

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  Panoptes battling Osiris

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  The Infinity Crown

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  Drendon, Root Mind

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  A Precusor Hobgoblin

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  Precusor Goblins

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  Argos, Planetary Core

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  Argos inside its barrier

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  Argos attacking the Leviathan

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  Pagouri, Beloved by Calus

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  Hasapiko, Beloved by Calus

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  The Menagerie Vex

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  Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent

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  Sol Divisive Vex

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  The Black Heart

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  The Undying Mind

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  Crotheon, Gate Keeper

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  A Sol Divisive Cyclops

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  Simulant Past

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  Gardener's Spire

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  Another view of Simulant Past

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  The Fields of Glass

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  A Vex structure on Mercury

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  The Infinite Gate

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  A Vex defensive mesh in Io

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  A Vex structure hidden in the Grove of Ulan-Tan

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  A Vex superstructure

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  Infinity's Siphon

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  Simulant Future

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  The Haunted Forest

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  The Endless Gate

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  Radiolarian waterfall on Nessus

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  A Vex projection

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  The Friendly Harpy

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  Izanami Forge under Vex control

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  The Terminus

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  A red veiled statue in the Black Garden

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  Saint-14's tomb enshrined by the Vex

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  The Garden of Salvation

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  Radiolarian waterfall in the Black Garden

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  Vegetation growing on Vex structures

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  A unique Vex structure

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  Quria, Blade Transform, the Dreaming Mind

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  Persys, Primordial Ruin

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  Protometon, Nexial Hijacker

List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
  • The Dark Below
  • House of Wolves
  • The Taken King
  • Rise of Iron
• Cabal Booklet (Mentioned only)
• Destiny 2
  • Curse of Osiris
  • Warmind
  • Forsaken
  • Season of the Forge
  • Season of the Drifter
  • Season of Opulence
  • Shadowkeep
  • Season of the Undying
  • Season of Dawn
  • Season of the Worthy
  • Season of Arrivals
  • Beyond Light
  • Season of the Chosen
  • Season of the Splicer
  • Season of the Lost
  • Season of the Haunted (Mentioned only)
  • Season of Plunder
  • Season of the Seraph
  • Lightfall
  • Season of Defiance
  • Season of the Deep
  • Season of the Witch
  • Season of the Wish
  • Into the Light (Mentioned only)
  • The Final Shape
  • Episode: Echoes
• Destiny: Fall of Osiris (Mentioned only)
• Destiny: Warmind
• Destiny: Cayde's Six (Mentioned only)
• Entelechy (Mentioned only)