Hi there, before you continue reading this piece, please bear in mind that there are a ton of lore spoilers from the “Beneath the Endless Night” lore book and potential Season of the Splicer spoilers, so if you have not read that, I highly suggest you do so before beginning this. Factions have long been a fan-favorite part of the world of Destiny and ever since Faction Rallies were removed from Destiny 2, players have been itching for factions to become more prevalent in the game’s story. Now, it looks as though things are heating up between New Monarchy, Dead Orbit, and of course, Lakshmi-2’s Future War Cult, as they have seemingly devised some sort of plan to overthrow Zavala as leader of the Vanguard, and we might just get more than we bargained for with Destiny’s factions.
Conspirators
The fourth entry into the “Beneath the Endless Night” lore book in Destiny 2 is titled “Conspirators” and it begins with the leader of Dead Orbit, Arach Jalaal, as he is in charge of providing supplies for Dead Orbit’s survival. He is in the middle of berating a subordinate when he is interrupted by Lakshmi-2 and Executor Hideo, leaders of the Future War Cult and New Monarchy, respectively. Hideo wonders how Dead Orbit can afford such high quality supplies, to which Jalaal shrugs and replies “It’s a life’s work, Hideo. Everything we’ll need to re-seed the Human species elsewhere. You should join us.” So, it already looks like Dead Orbit was planning on jumping ship, but perhaps not due to a need for change in leadership, but for other reasons unknown to us. Lakshmi-2 interjects into the conversation claiming that both she and Hideo are concerned about the current Vanguard leadership. Jalaal then references her Fallen-phobic broadcasts: “Yes, I’ve heard your open editorials. You’re becoming quite the demagogue. I never knew you held such strong feelings about the Fallen.” These broadcasts have not gone over well with the Vanguard, though they have continued to tolerate them up until now, due to a harmful attack on the Fallen House of Light’s quarters in the city. Both Zavala and Ikora have grown tired of Lakshmi’s relentless tirade of hatred against the Eliksni and, while they understand to a degree, they can’t risk the alliance between the two species breaking down.
Iron Vanguard
Lakshmi says that the people need “leadership whose point of view is more closely aligned to that of the people.” To which Jalaal questions who she thinks could possibly be a more suitable Vanguard leader than Zavala. Hideo tells that they considered Lord Saladin, the leader of the Iron Lords, but they were forced to eliminate him from the candidacy due to his supposed soft spot for Zavala.
Unsainted
After giving Hideo a glance that showed he revealed more than necessary, Lakshmi tells Jalaal that they are now considering Saint-14 to be the people’s leader, which prompts Jalaal to raise an eyebrow and ask “Who else is committed to your little coup?” It looks as though we may also have another Vanguard betrayer in the midst as Lakshmi states “We have somebody in a position of influence. Someone who can ensure an orderly transfer of power.” While I don’t think we know exactly who this is, my first thought lies with Osiris. He has enough influence in the Vanguard and used to be the Warlock Vanguard until he was exiled by the Speaker for his radical thoughts about the Vex. Jalaal then states “That person would have to be very clever indeed. For your sake, Ikora Rey is not a target to miss.”
So, are we going to end up seeing a full on faction revolution in Destiny 2? Well, I think it’s definitely a possibility, we’ve seen things that we thought to be nearly impossible happen, and at this point in time, with a major expansion on the way, a complete disconnect between factions and the Vanguard, and possibly an entire shift in Vanguard leadership could stir the pot to an unimaginable level that would create plenty of new opportunities for The Witch Queen. Unfortunately, it’s been far too long since we’ve seen Destiny 2 factions have any sort of bearing on anything in-game related, so it could also just land completely flat as no one really cares about factions anymore – especially when new players are unaware of who these faction leaders even are. One thing is for certain, though – there is definitely something that Bungie is getting ready for, and I think it’s going to be big.
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