Below is the script for this video, with a few reference links. Enjoy!

Intro:

Destiny has always been a game that has fed you lore in tiny little bits at a time. In Destiny 2, Bungie has embraced the concept of issuing full Lore Books chock full of stories ready for us to obsess over and over analyze, telling complete stories and answering many of our questions, yet still provoking some additional questions. Still, there have been a handful of questions that have been lingering on for quite some time now. In this video, we’ll take a look at five of these mysteries that are still yet unsolved. Some stretch back into Destiny 1, while others have only started with later expansions of Destiny 2.

This is Videogame Crosstalk, and I hope you enjoy this Destiny Lore video.

Intro Splash

5. The Leviathan of Titan

Starting off this list is one that has the least information available. Back in Vanilla Destiny 2, there was the adventure, “Utopia” on Titan. Upon descending into the depths of the station for a Golden Age CPU, Guardians who milled about patiently, taking in the stark beauty of the vastness that surrounded them, became privileged to seeing the silhouette of a massive sea creature just casually floating about as if on display at a theme park. And…..that’s about it. There is a scannable to be found that confirms the existence of the beast, but no additional reference or interaction has yet been made. 

However, in the Warmind DLC we defeated the Worm God, Xol. Or at least, figuratively defeated him, but that’s another story. In this battle, we were witness to the scale and form of one of the Worm Gods. As it turns out, this Leviathan lurking in the methane oceans of Titan is comparable in both metrics, which has absolutely chilling implications. 

So until the time comes when we hear from this Leviathan again, here’s another thought: Maybe, rather than us observing the Leviathan, the Leviathan was observing us, and what this curious little mote of light was up to.

4. The Cult of Aeons

In the DLC, “Curse of Osiris”, we finally got to meet that legendary, exiled former Vanguard of the Warlock order. Here we got our opportunity to traverse the sun scorched deserts of Mercury, actually have a conversation with super-fan Brother Vance, as awkward as those conversations were, and disrupt countless Vex simulations throughout the Infinite Forest. With the DLC, we were introduced to a new pair of Exotic Gauntlets, one pair for each class. Each pair of Gauntlets told a third of a message from the ever cryptic, Cult of Aeons. 

The Gauntlets themselves were part of an ambitious concept: each gauntlet produced different buffs for other fireteam members that were also wearing their respective gauntlets. It was an effort to create a competitive synergy across fireteam members. The problem was, that unless at least 1 other fireteam member was also using the gauntlets, they were pretty useless. Which means that they were never used, and were thus lost, ironically, to the sands of time. 

But what about that message? Spread across three exotic armor pieces was a masterfully crafted invitation to our Guardians to join a truly powerful organization. Out beyond the Heliopause lies true power that not even Osiris can comprehend, or…something like that. Since their release, we haven’t heard anything else from the Cult of Aeons since. At the time of recording this, the Season of the Saviour is winding down, and Osiris has once again stepped onto the stage as a force and a guide, and we have ultimately messed with the time-space continuum in ways that we may never fully understand. So, with all this timey-wimey stuff happening, perhaps a reappearance is due?

3. Nezarec, the God of Pain

This….this is a different one. The name, Nezarec, was first introduced with the exotic Warlock helm, “Nezarec’s Sin”. With this helm equipped, the exotic perk, “Abyssal Extractors”, reduces cooldown for abilities when getting Void damage kills. Note that this isn’t Void ABILITY kills, just void DAMAGE. So as long as you have a void damage weapon equipped, you will continuously reduce the cooldowns for your abilities. This is particularly effective with a masterworked weapon, as you will be popping orbs of light as well, drastically reducing your Super cooldown, and with “Devour” active, which heals you with every kill, allowing you to dive head first into the fire fight with amazing efficiency.

However, the lore surrounding the Final God of Pain is extremely sparse. While the lore tab for the helmet gave an interesting introduction, that was the extent of it until Forsaken was released. In the lore card, “Artifacts and Old Friends” from the lore book, “A Drifter’s Gambit”, the paragraph reads, 

“He says he’s seen the deep side of Jupiter. Been to the Core Mines of Saturn. Name drops old myths no one’s heard—the Luvial Crux, the Shift Chasms Below Elios, the Fourth Tomb of Nezarec…”

What is horrifying about this statement is that if there is a fourth tomb of Nezerac, that would imply a first, second, and third tomb, at least. And while we’re at it, why would a being require multiple tombs? This lore entry goes on to acknowledge that while Drifter is a known liar and deceitful punk, he has access to knowledge that no one else has, and has artifacts on his ship that no one, not even the Cryptarchs, have seen before.

Reaching back to Destiny 1, we have a potential alternate spelling for Nezarec in the Grimiore card for Sylok, the Defiled, where Sylok is being examined for memory data by the order of Petra. Apparently, Sylok demands that the researchers use more force in whatever mind probing method they are using, until he screams out in pain, 

“…Gragghh …g-ggglorious pain!!!

…Blllessssseeddd is the N-Nastareth!!!”

Soooo, alternate spelling? A different being entirely? Perhaps the name for the God’s followers? It makes some sense since Sylok is responding to pain, which Nezarec is supposed to be the final God of. 

Is there anything to these entries, or are they just pre-Golden Age stories meant to scare children into behaving?

2. What Happened to SIVA?

Players were introduced to SIVA in the Rise of Iron expansion of Destiny 1. Created by the Clovis Bray corporation, SIVA was intended for deep space exploration and colonization.The technology itself was a collection of autonomous nano-bots, or nanites, that would be able to carry out commands without the need of a fuel or energy source. It would be capable of deconstructing any form of matter and repurpose it into whatever would be needed at the time. When it was rediscovered by Guardians, they sought to harness its power for their benefit on Earth. Unfortunately, things went sideways QUICK, and SIVA got out of control. The Iron Lords determined that they could not defeat SIVA, but could contain it within the replication chamber deep in the Cosmodrome. At the time of Rise of Iron, the Eliksni had found SIVA and tried to augment themselves with cybernetic upgrades in order to achieve mechanical perfection. Fighting them back was then the plot of the Expansion. 

In the lore of Destiny, we know that SIVA was aboard the Exodus Black. The same Exodus Black that crashed onto Nessus and is the home of our favorite unstable shipboard AI, Failsafe. This should be alarming to pretty much everyone. A colony ship crashed before exiting the Sol system, broke into several segments, and the presence of a world building/destroying swarm of nanites is unaccounted for. This is with the exception of a series of Ghost scans in various locations and the introduction of Outbreak Perfected, the exotic Pulse Rifle. The rifle’s flavor text would suggest that SIVA has been placed into a looping subroutine where it just perpetually destroys enemies.

However, SIVA was BARELY contained on Earth, being confined to the Plaguelands which would now be within the Quarantine Zone. We now have a SIVA shooting Pulse Rifle, that is quite effective if I say so myself, and it SHOULD have been released upon the crash of the Exodus Black. So….what happened?

1. Calus’s True Form

From the start of Destiny 2, Calus has been with us the entire time….sort of. We have had quite the tour of his massive, world eating ship known simply as “The Leviathan”, and he has spoken to us through various loud speakers and Frames. At the end of the first Raid, we had thought that we were facing Calus himself, but as it turned out we had simply fought a robotic replicant of the Exiled Cabal Emperor. Not only that, but he’s got quite the stockpile waiting in the back. The first time striding past the rows upon rows of false emperors was equal parts awe inspiring and horrifying.

Since that initial raid, we have gone on to some Raid Lairs, the Menagerie, another full Raid, and even a Tribute Hall that celebrates our accomplishments…..in the service of Calus? Each of these locations has been in celebration of Calus and featured displays of either himself or Cabal might in general. We even present boons to the visage of Calus in the Tribute Hall, but….

We haven’t actually met the emperor, have we? It is always through one of his representatives or his voice booming over the intercom, or whatever means of communication he uses while we destroy anything that moves on the Leviathan. We all assume that he is simply a massive version of the cabal that we routinely fight around the solar system, and that the statues that we see are actually created in his likeness, but….we don’t actually know for sure, do we? He has offered to show us true strength and to allow us to grow fat with power for awhile now. Maybe one day he’ll actually make good on his offer.

And THAT concludes the video! If you enjoyed this video, please let me know and drop a like. If you would like to support this channel but can’t think of anything to leave as a comment, write the word, “Mystery”, in memory of these and the many more that still lie in wait. Also remember to subscribe if you want to hear more lore explained in this fashion and keep up to date with my regular podcast, Videogame Crosstalk, the monthly podcast of gamers talking Tech, Science, and whatever else comes to mind. Until then, I’ll see you in the Tower!