The Mad Warden

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The Mad Warden
Biographical information
Other name(s):	The Warden Warden's Servitor
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Reef (formerly) House of Judgment (formerly)
Class:	Servitor
Notable info:	Fomer co-warden of the Prison of Elders

Mad Warden

The Mad Warden
Biographical information
Species:	Fallen
Rank:	Ultra
Class:	Servitor
Combat information
Mission:	Warden of Nothing
Weapon(s):	Solar Beam
Abilities:	Solar Flare Solar Detonation Burn Teleport High Durability Summon Cabal Summon Vex

"Fight. Win. Li- Li- Li- Li- Li- FATAL EXCEPTION HAS OCCURRED AT 0028:C001E36"

— The Mad Warden

The Mad Warden is a heavily modified Fallen Servitor that was used by Variks, the Loyal to monitor the Prison of Elders until the release of the Scorn and his disappearance. The Servitor would continue to function as Warden of the Prison even as it fell into disarray.

Overview

"An old friend is here Judgement at hand."

— The Mad Warden playing a recording from Variks

The Mad Warden's core machinery has been removed, leaving a hollow shell affixed to multiple devices and parts for unknown purposes. With its core gone, the Warden appears to lack the sentience of a standard Servitor, instead having been replaced with an AI copy of Variks. This AI runs the gauntlet that Guardians can participate in, informing them of the prisoners they are about to battle and directing them to the proper chamber of the prison.

After becoming convinced to fulfil the Prophecy of the Kell of Kells by Fikrul and Uldren questioning him on where his loyalties lay, Variks planned an emergency shutdown of the Prison of Elders security system, releasing everyone in the process, to cover his tracks and left his last High Servitor in his place. However, afterwards, the Servitor began to malfunction. With its programming stuck on the Challenge of the Elders combat subroutine and thinking that IT was Variks, its erratic behavior drove what remained of the Prison into further chaos before it was destroyed by a Guardian fireteam, supported by the Drifter who owed a favor to The Spider.

Years later, the Mad Warden would be found still in the Prison of Elders during the Revenant Uprising when the Guardian was hunting for Fikrul, the Fanatic. The Warden would interfere in the Guardian's search for Eliksni Fikrul contained within the Prison by pulling Shadow Legion, Lucent Hive, Taken prisoners from cold storage alongside the Revenant Scorn and Dread brought in by Fikrul. The Servitor seemed to have been so corrupted that not even Variks could stop it as it locked him out when he tried to initiate shutdown, believing him to be a doppelganger.

Gameplay

The Mad Warden will enter the arena after defeating the enemies that were fighting each other in it. Unlike other Servitors, its ranged attack is a continuous Solar beam, dealing high damage. Every quarter or so of its health, it will teleport to one side of the arena, calling in Cabal and Vex to fight, and releasing a highly damaging Solar wave for a few seconds, that can only be avoided by taking cover in the shadow of pillars or rubble. In its last quarter of health, it will summon Zhagal, Disgraced Colossus and Edyx, Exothermic Mind alongside their respective races to aid him in the fight, and begin moving around while using its flare. All that said, the Mad Warden doesn't have health gates and can be easily killed before he can do anything through concentrated fire on any difficulty lower than Legend.

Gallery

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Trivia

• The Servitor core found in the Vestian Outpost may be the same one that was extracted from the Warden.
• Although the Warden first appeared in the House of Wolves expansion, it did not have an official name until The Taken King's Festival of the Lost event, which included a mask bearing the Warden's likeness.
• Though dialogue between The Drifter and The Ghost seems to indicate that Variks and the Warden were in a symbiotic relationship, the precise nature of the link remains unknown.
• Aside from the Techeuns and the Remnant Iron Lords, The Warden is so far the only character in the franchise that has gone from an ally to an enemy.
• In Season of the Worthy, there was an issue where, for the purposes of Strike bounties, the Warden was not counted as a Fallen boss in Warden of Nothing. Instead, it seemed to count as a Vex boss.
• It is unknown how the Mad Warden was able to return in Episode: Revenant or who rebuilt it if it was.

List of appearances

• Destiny: House of Wolves (First appearance)
  • April Update
• Destiny 2: Forsaken
  • Beyond Light (Mentioned only)
  • Episode: Revenant