Tree of Silver Wings

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The tree of silver wings in the Cradle.

"In the Garden grows a tree of silver wings. The leaves are ruin, the bark disaster. Of the seeds we do not speak."

— Ruin Wings flavor text

The Tree of Silver Wings is a mysterious entity referred to by multiple sources, typically in association with either the Black Garden or the more metaphorical "Garden" allegory used to describe the state of reality predating the universe.

The Garden Before Time

"The day was longer than all of time, and the night was swifter than a glint of light on a falling sugar crystal. […] A tree of silver wings bloomed yielded fruit shed feathers bloomed again."

— Unveiling: Gardener and Winnower

The tree once existed alongside the Gardener and the Winnower. Its leaves are described as "ruin", its peeling bark "disaster", and the oppressive air around it inspires violence in those who would breathe even a little in. Nothing grows within the Tree's shadow, and it scintillates faintly at dusk. The Tree achieves its entelechy, its potential, with every body falling, every civilization laid to waste, every leaf forged into instruments of ruin. Its seeds are malleable and hungering, and so they are not spoken of, nor on what they would become. Eris states that the Tree and its seeds are fluid in nature, but not physically; they act as an engine of integration, incorporating that which it contacts into its structure. It feeds from paracausal energy, both the Light and the Dark vying for dominance within its every particle.

It was later brought down by the two entities fighting with each other, and left to smoke amid the meadows.

Discovery within the Black Garden

When the Guardians raided the Black Garden to follow the signal of the Unknown Artifact they would discover a "felled" Tree of Silver Wings. Inside what remained of the severed trunk, after defeating the Sanctified Mind that protected it, the Guardians would discover a Black Fleet#Veiled Figures.

Discovery on Io

Main article: Tree of Silver Wings (Io)

During the arrival of the Black Fleet, Osiris recovered a seed from the Pyramids. He later received a message from Mara Sov relayed to him through Brother Vance, which instructed him simply to "plant the seed".

This Tree would be discovered by the Guardian and Eris Morn in the heart of the Cradle on Io. Eris claimed it formed when the Traveler first terraformed Io, not knowing that Osiris planted the Seed, but the connection between this tree and the original is unclear; however, the flavor text for the Seed of Silver Wings recovered from the tree strongly implies that both share a similar nature.

Discovery within the Heart

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A tree resembling the overall form of the mature Tree of Silver Wings on Io was also found within the Blooming within the Pale Heart; however, instead of the silver-white metallic substance of the Tree on Io, this tree seemed to be made out of normal wood, and contained three sculpted representations of Hive among its branches. A smaller "sapling" strongly resembling an immature version of the Tree of Silver Wings discovered on Io was discovered within the Blooming Deep Lost Sector, where it was guarded from the Witness' forces by the Lucent Brood Wizard Luzaku.

Trivia

• A Ghost projection in Eververse refers to the tree as the Sterling Arbor, a synonym for "Silver Tree".
• Despite it being referred to as a root within the Root of Nightmares Objectives, the massive structure heavily resembles a Tree of Silver Wings along with its ability to feed off of paracausal powers.
  • Adding to this, the Tree within the Pale Heart is also referred to as a root in dialogue, suggesting that root may be another term for a Tree of Silver Wings.

List of appearances

• Destiny: The Dark Below (First mentioned)
  • The Taken King (Mentioned only)
• Destiny 2 : Curse of Osiris (Mentioned only)
  • Shadowkeep (Mentioned only)
  • Season of Arrivals (First appearance)
  • Season of the Hunt (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall
  • The Final Shape