Destiny 2 Lore - Is Xivu Arath setting a trap for us? Is this how she begins her invasion?

Destiny 2's Lore and Story tells us about how Xivu Arath might be setting a trap for us that will lead to the beginning of her invasion. The Season of the Seraph has lore tabs that hint to how the god of war will summon her forces into this reality, by making the Black Terrace, her throne, merge with reality above Sorrow's Harbour.
Thumbnail art from Dynasty, created by Ben Vazquez aka Metaworks / metaworks818
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[@DraftyCoast]

"I sense a trap" "what should we do?" "spring the trap" - warlock kenobi

[@elijahkinsale]

Guardian Vergil, Hive Gods are our specialty 😉

[@spartanlord91]

Why does part of me think that xivu arath’s plan to invade is a diversion? While we are concentrating on xivu arath, calus will begin his attack on neomuna, but i may be wrong.

[@Lightscribe225]

@@spartanlord91 With their numbers, I don't think it's a diversion, more an attempt to break the Guardians. A hunter trying to chase two rabbits will catch neither. Use overwhelming force on two separate targets to stretch the coalition's defenses thin and then use an armored fist(The Witness himself) to shatter it

[@grzegorzflorek5623]

@@Lightscribe225 I feel that you and Rhett might both be right. This season is an attempt to divert our forces, and in Lightfall Witness and Calus attack Neomuna to draw our attention from the Last City and the Traveler. After all, Vanguard couldn't let innocent people die, especially if they have way better toys than we do. And our enemies know that.

[@heickelrrx]

@@elijahkinsale should have said, Warlock Osiris A misopportunity, pathetic

[@TruthAwakened]

Funny enough, I think that's exactly why we're seeing Anna protesting Clovis's treatment of Rasputin from a story perspective. Perhaps by simply changing the nature of why we want to bring Rasputin back (Anna is personal, Osiris is knowledge, etc.) rather than for the sole purpose of war, then perhaps the ritual for the wargod will be only somewhat successful or outright denied.

[@wolffang-vz2ty]

this would be an interesting concept, and would make clovis even more of a concern

[@ichwaregernedagibee9993]

Exactly what I wanted to say. War is but an aspect of Rasputin. We do not try to recover Rasputin for the purpose of war, but for the purpose of security - keeping the enemies away from it. Anna, the Vanguard (who do not trust big red) and us, the players do not intervene for war. Of course it might be that we will be forced to see Red as a weapon or make us of him. Clovis, in his hybris, will most likely try to take control over Red, wich in itself is a fight. Or perhaps us fighting everywhere at the same time is already enough. In the case of Torobatl the death of a single advisor was enough (although the Cabal already worshipped war a bit wich probably helped a lot. The advisor might have been a final spark for the portal). I think that the coming expansion will be a fight against calus wich in turn will enable Xivu to do her thing. The seasonal content for the year would be a fight against Xivu and her plans. Final shape could be the fight against the Witness and the missing race.

[@user-dd8oo4tv1l]

I think we ll fight on neptune because the last city is already f****d

[@outbreakperfected5704]

@@ichwaregernedagibee9993 you mean the final shape?

[@bradwhite5884]

Even so, Xivu will arrive and war will come regardless of our actions, even change the nature, that one small aspect will be crucial and fall for it, so yeah

[@akaj2013]

"It's a trap!" - Admiral My name is Byf, probably But for real though, Xivu Arath is the Titan equivalent in the Hive Osmium Dynasty. Which means she's all about strategy as much as she is about strength. Really hope we get to see more of her come Lightfall.

[@lucatamburello4545]

Since when do we try to out the three classes thing into the hive gods ?!? How does that make sense for the other two because Savathun looks more warlock-y but cunning and such is more of a snake/hunter thing but then Jo would oryx fit into warlock/hunter or hell even Titan

[@outbreakperfected5704]

Oryx was an explorer he literally was called the navigator

[@Aj-py8en]

@@lucatamburello4545 Xivu is the corruption of a titan. A strategist continually in the offensive while titans are on the defense. Savathūn is the corruption of a hunter. Cunning and sly, searching for ways to escape and be free just like a hunter. Oryx is the corruption of a warlock. Forced to continually gain knowledge, and the most skilled wielder of paracausal darkness.

[@Huttser17]

"There are few traps which cannot be turned against their designers." - Thrawn.

[@imbored9685]

So warlocks get to be the badass oryx cool. I'm down with that, and hunters are the little scheming meta cruching loser savathun

[@emiliobatres9581]

It's honestly why Xivu is one of the hardest people to fight. Either we fight her directly, and thereby feed her power, or we avoid fighting her, and let her armies roll right over us. We can't even overpower her, since she can just scale above us

[@Psion_Phoenix]

You’re forgetting, Oryx could overpower us too. His throne world, just like Savathun’s are places they control yet we were able to re-write the rules of their own reality and beat them at their own games. We used the sword logic to fight Oryx and re-wrote it, destroying him. Thereby proving we are stronger. Oryx was the strongest of all 3 hive gods so I don’t think Xivu will be difficult to deal with, we just have to find out how to play her game.

[@mobslayer211]

@@Psion_Phoenix at the time Oryx was the strongest but his pride and arrogance was his downfall. I think Xivu Arath is the strongest now (I mean she surpassed Oryx)

[@shadowimperial]

@@Psion_Phoenix We gotta overpower her in a straight fight.

[@ashumon23]

It makes sense that we would be the ones to summon Xiva Arath with war and blood. That's how we beat Oryx and Savathun; by playing their game, but changing the rules and playing on our terms. We played Oryx's game by fighting with sword logic, only to change the rules and create the bomb logic. We played Savathun's game of secrets and deception, only the learn secrets Savathun herself did not know.

[@thrilla72]

Niiiice

[@MrDjx01]

Now this here u r on to something

[@twelved4983]

So how would we beat Xivu? Oryx reigns sword logic, we blast back bomb logic. Savathun reigns trickery and deception, we blast back the nature of her trickery and the irony of her situation. Would we show Xivu that war isn’t the only motivation, or also what we did with Savathun, showing her that the Witness basically gave them gilded medals of honor?

[@urazz7739]

That and against Savathun, we revealed those secrets to her and didn't try to hide them from her.

[@outbreakperfected5704]

Maybe by instead of fighting for destruction we fight to protect, or we commit war crimes and just blow up her throne world

[@Falconer13X]

Or third option: counter-trap. Assuming Mara is sharing pertinent information with Elsie, and Elsie is appropriately passing said information on, Rasputin could know exactly where Xivu's beachhead will be, and plan accordingly. Really hard to hold a beachhead that is under constant artillery fire, especially if said artillery is C-fractional from half way across the solar system, and who knows what else Big Red can uncork. Being the devious sort, I vote we scrape up some SIVA, use it to hijack the Leviathan, and run over Xivu's front porch. Would just need a Guardian to do a Slim Pickens on it and the whole thing will probably be right paracausal...

[@Boringspy]

Imagine bungie vaulting the moon and the lore explanation is that we chose to blow up the moon to get rid of the hive 😄

[@dropkick3024]

@Bored Ninja I mean, before they said they aren't going to vault anymore expansions or destination, I thought by the end of the year, the lunar pyramid would break out, and we lose the moon

[@XAVES]

I hope they do a Forsaken-style story twist, in that Forsaken was marketed as a Western revenge story, but turned into a story about Riven and Savathun. Lightfall, being a war on Neomuna, and potentially after the return of Rasputin, means the (hopeful) defeat of Calus could end in summoning Xivu Arath. Then, our end can begin.

[@EggheadCammy]

It would also fit with the slogan for Lightfall being Our end begins

[@WielderofPOWER]

Yo..... that's a brilliant thought

[@christophergoldshot9028]

It might happen spoiler alert showed up again

[@christophergoldshot9028]

@Lil mikey I am sorry that you feel this way, although I for agree sometimes bungie drops the ball, lore daddy does provide a good source of content especially when it comes to connecting pieces and information to show the bigger story, I hope you enjoy your day, however I will still look forward to the lore vids.

[@NeonTheWolf]

@Lil mikey you immediately invalidated your entire comment the moment you turned it into being homophobic I can almost guarantee you would not be saying that shit if they showed a straight couple kissing in a cutscene, you’re just homophobic Also don’t know why you’re pretending they only just started revealing some character’s sexualities when they’ve had gay and trans characters literally since like day one, Bungie’s always been one of the nicer companies when it comes to representation and being inclusive of everyone and Destiny’s always been made to be a space for everyone. It’s honestly one of my favorite things about the company

[@Gilbert_Eugene]

I really want Xivu to look the way she did in Dynasty if we ever get to see her. I think we got a glimpse of her in Witch Queen and she looked more like a Wizard imo.

[@Muppet567]

She took the knight morph when she became a hive instead of a krill. She shouldn't look like a wizard anymore.

[@riskrunner4532]

@@Muppet567 I don't know if I read your comment wrong but... the image he's talking about is when she takes her worm and it's actually kinda bad imo.

[@ChickenMan3428]

@@riskrunner4532 thats when shes a krill not a hive yet.

[@Gilbert_Eugene]

@@riskrunner4532 Tbh I may be remembering it wrong. In the back of my head I just remember her looking like a wizard.

[@riskrunner4532]

I love the idea of it just not the execution, her being Set inspired and Egyptian like is a interesting take however it's just not done right. She's way too skinny and her exoskeleton looks very saggy, her helmet shape is awkward and big and her face is just plain goofy. I hated the execution so much I made my own redesign (it's in my community tab if you want to see it) shameless plug aside the design bungie made needs work.

[@aceofsharks9837]

Minor, but curious thing. So far, the Sibling Trio Hive Gods have had wings of some sort. Oryx had bat wings and Sav had moth wings. What sort of wings will Xivu have, I wonder.

[@hellaboveme500]

Since she’s war, probably like AC-130 wings

[@duskcrane4317]

Maybe feathered like a bird? It's that or dragon wings. Although the thought of the Hive God of War spreading her arms and gliding around like a flying squirrel would be...beyond hilarious.

[@GlitchManOmega]

Wings made of swords?

[@riskrunner4532]

Beetle wings are my bet. It allows her to hide her wings for a smaller mass and reveal for air superiority

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

Eagle.

[@SealFormulaMaster]

I like to think that our Guardian knows this. Our Guardian has killed dozens of Vex Minds, dozens of Hive Gods, Countless Cabal Bracus, we've faced down Darkness itself in the form of Scorn and Rhulk. Our Guardian know what's going on. They welcome this, they want Xivu and her Terrace to come, because they're itching for some new toys to play with. And I do actually mean that. To the best of my knowledge, our Guardian has been little more than a murder hobo with a camera for a head. No real backstory, nor any real motivation that drives them except for that one time Cayde got laid out. Seems like the only thing our Guardian reacts to is a shiny new toy.

[@ichwaregernedagibee9993]

We have yet to turn Savathun into a weapon. I bet we would have done so already if her ghost did not escape. What a shame.

[@dependent-ability8631]

we are her most ardent worshiper

[@outbreakperfected5704]

@@ichwaregernedagibee9993 technically we did turn her into a weapon through her worm

[@foliagedcarcass]

The guardian not our

[@ISargaros_official]

@@ichwaregernedagibee9993i think bungo will not let us do this to her, by their plans she will be our “ally” in lightfall or final shape, sort of.

[@Gaid152]

Xivu Arath is functionally the god of war. Maneuvering and ambushes and strategy and traps are a part of war. If Xivu Arath can't functionally set a trap than nobody can. Also, Merry Xmas Byf, love the vids, thanks for putting up one on the holiday.

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

She has also been with Savathun for eons. You’d imagine Xivu picked up a bit of her sister’s cunning over this vast amount of time.

[@shaynethegmann]

While it's true it's a good trap, my guess is she doesn't fully grasp the capabilities of the warmind even if her forces end up on the moon a fully functional warmind would, maybe not decimate but severely damage her forces

[@LunaRod554]

@@shaynethegmann while we might win against her in the end using the warmind, I can’t help but think of what we might lose in the process tho… RIP Last City

[@shaynethegmann]

@anthonyrodriguez9532 I'm guessing and this is like a tinfoil theory here, the witness is trying to use xivu to keep us from neomuna while he and calus decimate them

[@Gaid152]

@@LunaRod554That's a pyrrhic victory, and for all we might be able to fight Xivu Arath ala fire team against her in her in her Throne World, I have serious doubt we have the military might that we could go toe to toe with Xivu Arath as a General. All I have to say here is this: ask Caiatl and how she lost Torobotl. Caiatl is still limping away from that one and gathering allies and just trying to keep her pride. The lost city has never been a sheer army. It's been operations teams that can bring themselves up after dying. Now they're allied with Caiatl, a military that doesn't have a logistical backstop after Xivu Arath literally killed everybody left on their world after their desperate retreat. And they're also allied with Mithrax as a very good research base. But at some point, the Last City has to start a draft or something's going to go wrong. If we beat Xivu Arath as we are the world's still burning and we're rebuilding.

[@madderred7853]

Oryx and savathun had their own expansions, taken king and witch queen..... But the next two expansions are lightfall and final shape, which tells me that either xivu won't be the main antagonist (part of a seasonal quest) or may even go beyond final shape. Would the war against the witness somehow make xivu even stronger than the witness? It feels anticlimactic to have xivu's arc finish (the last osmium ruler of the hive) without her own expansion, but i also can't see her becoming stronger or a larger threat than the witness?

[@riskrunner4532]

Final shape is probably her expansion, we know Xivu is supposedly going to play a huge part in the Darkness v light saga thanks to a Vidoc, and we know she has Set inspiration, aka the God who protects Ra who the witness seems to take inspiration from.

[@Salvguard]

The Witness’ “rule of life” is that violence will only exist so the strongest kill the weakest to survive, in an eternal cycle. That’s why it’s so interested in the guardians, we’re strong, yet we stubbornly cling to the Light instead of culling our enemies and those we protect. Xivu Arath being made the God of War, the very embodiment of violence for any sake, could very well make her much stronger than the Witness. Xivu’s powers are all focused on eternal war, violence and death, while the Witness is to seek the penultimate lifeform, the strongest thing that can exist, “the final shape”. This means that it’s very much possible that Xivu can simply be or become infinitely stronger by the Witness by simply backstabbing it once strong enough. Xivu isn’t the God of Strength under the Witness, she is so much more than that.

[@cutthegrass_yt]

@@Salvguard good points about a betrayal. Oryx pretty much did the same thing to become the taken king. It would be logical xivu follows this idea

[@jonnysilia5740]

@@Salvguard it's very likely that Xivu in at least some way will cause the downfall if not the death of the Witness, it's too appropriate that the Witness will die before seeing the what the Final Shape truly will be and Xivu gets control of a pyramid and will probably spike one like a football into the earth itself.

[@Aj-py8en]

Oryx is The Taken King Savathūn is The Witch Queen Xivu Arath is The Final Shape The god of war is the most likely candidate to be the last surviving thing in the universe. The hive are able to wage war as long as other things exist. When the hive are left they wage war on themselves. Everytime a hive kills Xivu gets stronger. Everytime a hive gets killed Xivu gets stronger. Xivu Arath will be the strongest thing, honed to perfection by her war against everything else.

[@BlairsVaultOfStarsAndDreams]

I think the fact that Rasputin is so much more than *just* an AI geared for war, will end up being important somehow. Ana herself said that she felt Rasputin had grown and evolved beyond what he had been originally programmed for. His motivations weren't to make war for the sake of making war, but for the sake of ensuring humanity had a future to hope for. Xivu Arath is war that is waged simply for the act of waging war, for conquering, for destroying those weaker or to be destroyed by those stronger. While she may have strategies, they are designed for one goal and one goal only: to ignite or sustain war. Her strategies are designed to be the truest example of the Sword Logic: cutting away weakness to leave only a sharpened edge behind.

[@wolffang-vz2ty]

it would be a an interesting idea for clovis to be trying to bring Rasputin back as a weapon only for Xivu's ritual to ignite and open the gates for an invasion with Rasputin as the focus. then we manage to recover the data that clovis removed, the stuff Anna was adding to try to recover her Red and then we have a mission to upload it to Rasputin to try to hopefully make him "more than a weapon" and make him not a valid focus for the ritual there by stopping it.

[@garrettviewegh677]

@@wolffang-vz2tyMaybe. I’ve been theorizing that part of Clovis’ backstab, besides helping Xivu’s forces enter Sol from the Ascendent Plane, Clovis may try to take over the Exo meant for Rasputin while we try to stop Xivu from invading. Maybe Mithraks and Ana will send us into the network of the Exo to help Rasputin kill Clovis as the two fight for control of the Exo and the Warsats. We may win, and kill Clovis, while saving Rasputin and gaining possession of the Warsats, but I feel we may still lose, as Xivu’s forces may end up invading Sol at the end of the season. Going into Lightfall, I theorize that Calus’ threat of invasion on Neomuna will be one of the battles on a front that won’t be the “real battle”. It will be a distraction on one of the war fronts that will have split Guardians. Half of us being in Neomuna, while Xivu, the Witness, Taken, Hive and Scorn assault the Last City with a surprise offensive. If the Witness ends up throwing everything at us, they may summon the Worm Gods. The last three to each planet. Mars: as that’s where Rasputin’s bunker, and Savathun’s entrance to her Throne world are. Europa, to claim the abandoned Pyramid, and finally, the last Worm God of the remaining three may be sent to the Moon, to rally the remaining Hive there to retake the Scarlet Keep and use that fortress and the Hellmouth as a beach head, causing Eris to flee. Saturn, Nessus, and Mercury may be of little concern as there is little resistance there. The only risk for the Witness in sending the Worm Gods to claim and hold these planets, is that if a fireteam of three or six may be able to kill any of the three remaining Worm Gods. Which if any of them die, the Hive could all die off in a few generations. Or a few years due to the Guardians. The hardest location to take from one of the three remaining Worm Gods would have to be Luna. As the Hive of many footholds there, and would be strengthened by a Hive God’s presence.

[@nanosmokex6998]

First Crota took the moon, then Nightmares/the Hidden Swarm, and now Xivu Arath's hoard. We need a giant can of RAID at this point

[@S3Cs4uN8]

At this point we might as well just blow up the moon, not like the damage that'd do would make the Earth any more fucked than it already is.

[@cas6382]

I feel like full reason The Witness defiled Eramis' house was to bait her into betraying him to add into the war to summon Xivu Arath's army.

[@ToneFade]

The audio for in game character communications in perfect. thank you! the audio been on the quiet side in the last couple of vids

[@XxThe_ExiledxX]

Honestly it amazes me that you don't have millions of subs. That's the way to put a plug into a video. At the end of a well created and informative vid. Always amazing videos and love the lore

[@noguy909]

Ana keeps saying that Rasputin is more than just an AI solely designed for war at this point. If Rasputin is brought back the way Ana intents, he might be able to recognize and avoid the trap (If he recognizes that there is no scenario where he can win, he might go Midnight Exigent again. No fight means no portal, and Xivu won't get control of the warsat network either). But Clovis is looking for a way to rebuild the Warmind faster and as a simple weapon obedient to him. Ordered to destroy the hive, Rasputin might just spring the trap.

[@Psion_Phoenix]

We know now that Rasputin won’t spring the trap. He warned us about what Clovis was trying to do. I fear Clovis was trying to become a machine god and replace Rasputin because he’s being influenced by the witness to go to war in order to bring forth Xivu to our system.

[@alecschilling2691]

So this seems to line up perfectly with the psion prediction “a city besieged” which makes me think that you’re absolutely right that there isn’t really anything we can do at this point we just have to plan and spring the trap.

[@stephen90944]

Love the lore vids, Byf. Thank you!

[@rogueagent2477]

Well even if we gonna fight Xivu Arath, it wont be so simple. If we kill her, we still gonna fight her in her throne world, just like Oryx and Savanthun.

[@riskrunner4532]

We can't even fight her in battle, she gets stronger the longer the fight goes on and we know from Osiris just a little bit of violence can make her stupidly OP. she basically beat up Osiris by thinking thousands of light-years away just because he killed a few of Crotas daughters.

[@zointisarenazi]

Brah it became boring story if they keep same bs i hope she can at least destroy or be part of earth destruction. Couse if they keep same bs bad guy gathering forces and ends in same way ither bad guys died its shyt its boring.

[@LowIntSpecimen]

@@riskrunner4532 will she be able to defeat the power of pulling the ethernet cable though

[@guineapig9171]

Remember War is her Throne World

[@Spike2276]

@@LowIntSpecimen maybe she read the patch notes for Crota, perhaps we should try pushing her off the map

[@m3tr0id86]

A gift from Byf for Christmas! More lore that we all want. Merry Christmas man!

[@militant_daisies2194]

really great video Mr. Byf!

[@The5lacker]

I appreciate that no only are Eido and Eris working together, but the young scribe has a really clever perspective on things. "War as Ritual" is obvious when you spell it out, and it helps explain how strong Xivu Arath truly is: any opposition to her ultimately reinforces her, in the same way that knowing Oryx ultimately immortalized him, in the same way that Savathun lived in the slivers of ignorance surrounding her.

[@sircrimsonwolf7492]

Daaaaaaaame you posting content on Christmas now that’s dedication brother. respect and also concerned.

[@dezhayward]

Awesome video Byf, merry Christmas.

[@ronin9380]

Thanks for the hard work! Excellent

[@ThatBritishGuy138]

Merry Christmas Byf, nothing quite like more lore on Christmas day, hope you're having a fantastic day Guardian ❤️

[@dmnbackfire876]

Happy holidays Byf. Hope you are with those you treasure and making the most of your down time.

[@Tftapodcast]

Happy holidays, Byf!

[@variosnailo8265]

I love the video Byf! I'm a bit worried about the lore of The Manticore, Xivu and Mara had a joust with words with Mara winning.

[@cutthegrass_yt]

Mara draws blood and sets things in motion. (Speculation)

[@austinwilson7373]

Mara lost 2 of the three bouts, and after the last one, xivu just said she was a worthy opponent. At most it was a tie

[@konidk]

Amazing job, ty for this.

[@percybal3486]

New byf video!

[@darknightt1248]

I gotta say, what a video and what a theory. This is so epic and I honestly hope to happens. An invasion of the moon surely sends us closer to light fall. The HELM is already there and it looked like in the game awards trailer that’s where we jumped to Neptune from.

[@ferpineda5022]

Remember people that caiatl killed her most trusted commander and tutor thus activating the portal for her invasion. If in the end Clovis tries to become a god and we try to stop him and do so it might activate the catalyst for her invasion

[@urazz7739]

That or Clovis takes over Rasputin and fights Xivu in a stupid way that empowers her and is failing. Rasputin beats back Clovis and shows that he is the definitive Warmind and teaches Xivus that War does have an end.

[@christopherm.1258]

Caiatl killed someone she trusted. It takes a lot of strengh and inner conflict to do that. I think that`s why that ritual worked, but we don`t trust Clovis. It would be a big conflict.

[@ferpineda5022]

@@christopherm.1258 Who knows but I just feel it might be something similar to that

[@hellblazer2296]

Thank you for this most awesome of Christmas Gifts!

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Setting a trap for us that is sprung when we bulldoze into something and kill it would be highly effective. The plot of the old Savathuns Song strike was basically exactly that (as an aside, players really don't respect how dangerous a hive ritual can be). Many of the Vanguards greatest losses are a result of that. It'd work really well on us, the player. The Hive are absolutely capable of setting a trap using rituals that are literally impossible for a Guardian caught within it to break out of. The fact that they've never done it to us the player is largely plot armour. We've walked into the aftermath of these kinds of traps a lot, being the one to break them from the outside, and we've actually been caught in one ourselves several times at this point, mostly against Savathun. Eris has personally bailed us out of a guaranteed permadeath trap on more than one occasion, and its lamentable that we don't have text dialogue options with NPC's available so we can thank her for it. I think as far as relations with NPC's go in Destiny, Eris has saved our life more than any other character. Because as a character our Guardian is kind of stupid and falls for Hive traps a lot. We just never face consequences for our idiot behaviour. It will be a good move on Bungie's part to have Xivu's invasion kicked off by our fuck-up, especially if its one that the majority of players would actually fall for. It can be risky, forcing the player to walk into a trap, but this specific kind of trap is the kind that most players would never see coming. Gamers are generally used to their mission objectives always being the correct choice. One of gamings more effective avenues for plot twists is by subverting that. I think the type of player that would actually see this kind of trap coming, is the type that wouldn't mind being forced into a trap for plot reasons, so it'll probably work. If they're really worried about it, they could have another character be the one to actually trigger it.

[@garrettviewegh677]

I love Byf’s masterful narration that brings Destiny 2’s world to life, but props to Destiny Lore Vault for the lore clips and dialogue. No doubt they’re getting a bit more publicity on their channel because of the Lore Daddy.😏

[@kiriodust]

This gave me mad chills... I love it!!!

[@neekumikuvt328]

Merry Christmas Byf!!!!❤❤❤❤

[@ChromaDragon]

Part of me can't help but wonder if summoning the Black Terrace would be a mis-play on Xivu Arath's part, once Rasputin is back in the game. She'd be summoning what is probably the seat of her power into real space...opening it up for Rasputin to bombard the everliving hell out of it with the Warsat network, and allowing the Guardians to assault it directly either after the fact or simultaneously. She may be the Hive's god of war, but the Guardians are Humanity's. Oryx found that out the hard way.

[@soulzrider7577]

Rasputin never learned how to step

[@Altaccounttwo]

Merry Christmas BYF

[@thatalleycat]

Merry Christmas byf

[@vertigq5126]

Merry Christmas Byf! God bless :)

[@specter324thefallen6]

I never thought of war tactics as a ritual. Its brilliant, scary, but brilliant. Makes you realize that savathun may have been a master of deception. Xivu is a master of tactics, what do you fear more.

[@BistoNation]

The Moon's been a hot point this year. Season 16, Lucent Hive move to take the Scarlet Keep and push Savathuns throne world into real space. Season 17, Calus sits the Leviathan over the Moon and pushes for the Pyramid ship. Season 18, we learn Nezarec owned the Pyramind but has been dead for centuries and cut up by the Fallen. Season 19, Xivu is making a massive push on the Moon to turn it into the perfect staging ground to assault Earth.

[@SoldMySoul45]

Its been a while since I've read a lot of in-game lore but wasn't there The Dark Future (i think it was on a piece of armor or weapon in-game) that spoke of a timeline where Eris, The Guardian and others turned away from the light and became corrupted? Elsie and Ana were involved too. Ana turned on Elsie and she had to kill her. This entire event took place on the Moon if I'm remembrring correctly. Please do correct me if i am wrong! But regardless, maybe the Moon will be a final stand of some sort. It seems very important.

[@BistoNation]

@@SoldMySoul45 That's right! Savathun was squatting in the moon for some reason and corrupted Guardians led by Eris teamed up with the Hive to defend the Scarlet Keep. Whatever Savathun was doing there was a mystery, but with season 18 and the drop of Nezarec, we have some context as to what she could have been doing. Good spot!

[@morcbus123]

I think that the salvation from Xivu’s trap as an avatar of war will come from Lady Efrideet and her group of Guardians at the edge of the solar system. It’s been a long time since we heard of them (but hey look at what happened with Nezarec) but they were specifically a group of pacifist Guardians looking to explore their gifts in the Light for peaceful means. If anyone could know of a way to use the Light to defeat our enemies while avoiding aggression, it’s likely them.

[@elizabethhicks4181]

This is a great theory, I love this.

[@crksg]

Xivu power is like a balancing act where the more you push against it the more power she is able to use to push back

[@queenmedusa934]

"Xivu Arath strikes where Savathun first pushed through the veil and entered the Dreaming City. Has she no ambition of her own?" -Savathun disguised as Osiris, Season of the Hunt Funny to think that Xivu Arath may be trying the same thing here again, pushing the borders at the Moon where the Lucent Hive did before. But, I mean, hey, easier to break in through the unlocked door instead of breaking down the wall, right?

[@jessebroberg]

Merry Christmas 🎄 Between the connection problems I have with it and not being able to pause it... I simply can't play Destiny anymore but I still love the story and lore of it! Thank You for these videos and keep up the great work 👍 👍 👍

[@matiasgaming4971]

I know she would have a hard time being trusted, and being on our side. But Savathûn would actually be a good ally for taking down Xivu. She wields knowledge about her sister that noone else does. And if Savathûn's true goal during Witch Queen was to protect the traveler, then surely that would come up again

[@bohba13]

"Boys study strategy, men study logistics" "Every battle is won before it’s ever fought" "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting" "Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt" If you are correct Byf, Xivu truly _is_ war. she has the army set up, she has forced her foe to the field of battle, and the moment we have realized it, the knoose has already been put around out necks. she has beaten us soundly in the theaters of Logistics, Espianage, and Strategy. not only that, but she only committed her own forces _after_ she knew she could suppress a guardian's paracausality. she has accounted for every factor, including those that can't be planed for... holy fuck.

[@wikitiki209]

xivu is might, through war

[@wikitiki209]

but we are deeply fucked coming lightfall

[@bohba13]

@@wikitiki209 in this case, I fear that Xivu is the US DoD, and we're Iraq... We're going to learn the meaning of Shock and Awe.

[@TheForbiddenOne55]

Playing chess while we're busy playing checkers.

[@DragonKnight90001]

Hmm best keep an eye out for anymore info. With the lightfall trailer showing the Calus’s loyalists above earth attacking the city’s ships……. Best to get as much details as possible…. The first main attack will be starting in the coming months it sounds like.

[@D.A.R.C.I.]

so the god of war will be summoned if we successfully ready the warmind, which is what clovis bray wants. this isnt entirely what ana wants, on the other hand, for its not the warmind she wants, its her old friend and comrade. this is the very point of contention for this season, and so far, even osiris is alright with rasputin coming back with less than himself.

[@nonaG123]

I have another theory on how we'll be dealing with Xivu-Arath though I'm not basing it on much just speculation really... I'm betting that when Xivu-Arath shows up Savathun will return as an "ally" perhaps becoming a true guardian in a sense. We're like 90% sure she's not actually dead just driven into hiding again. We also know that SHE actually opposes the witness because she wants to claim power for her hive NOT secure a path for the witness and she's been making these plans as she knows that he only seeks to end ALL life including hive. She eluded after her defeat that now it was going to be up to us to stop him since we bested her and she seems to hope that we are actually strong enough already to deal with him. It also basically would complete the cycle of making allies out of our old enemies as we have an alliance with a group of Fallen and Cabal already and although Vex is still in limbo there, they're not really sentient they're a hive mind that seems to work as an extension of the witness/darkness directly so their basically just remote control soldiers/tools. If there was EVER a hive lord/noble/leader that'd we'd be able to have ANY common ground with it's Savathun. I also don't think any of this will happen till they come up with our third darkness subclass or somewhere round that time as we're getting Strand with a Cabal themed annual chapter, we got Stasis with a Fallen year, All the Light subclasses reworked on a Hive year, yes it would make sense to have the Last one come with a Vex theme but again Vex are hard to make into the big bad without breaking a LOT of continuity... they have time travel as a mechanic and Bungie has had IMMENSE trigger discipline with that mechanics lore uses. That stuff could EASILY break the whole story but they're keeping it in check. Also Vex have ZERO personality so they just feel like cannon fodder terminators and most seasons that focus them aren't as popular anyway. If anyone reads all this, Bravo and thanks for indulging my tin-foil hat session

[@elizabethhicks4181]

The Vex have two issues, for one they’re distinctly non paracausal. It’s theorized that in the absence of paracausal involvement, the Vex should be the Final Shape, but in Unveiling, we learned that the rules changed when the Gardner and Winnower made themselves a part of the game, so the final shape probably looks different too. This is an issue because the Hive have been set up as the big bad final antagonists of this arc, and just slipping the Vex in for the sake of it at the end there would probably ring really hollow. From a story writing perspective, that would cause insane whiplash, to have all of this hive and darkness buildup only to go “actually it was the Vex all along! :D” that would feel incredibly unsatisfying. This whole arc of the story is the paracausal elements of the universe fighting it out. As non paracausal entities, the Vex are tangential to this fight. The other issue with the Vex is that they don’t TALK. That makes it really hard to have them be compelling villains. Even Quoria back in season of the splicer didn’t get that much payoff, even with the huge amount of buildup that was The Books of Sorrow and Truth to Power. It was more of a stage puppet played by Savathûn. The Vex will hopefully be set up as the villains AFTER Final Shape. I vaguely remember somewhere in the lore that we haven’t actually been fighting Vex warriors this whole time, we’ve been fighting their construction crews and custodians, and that tracks when we look at the Vex we’ve fought. The most powerful Vex mind we’ve defeated was probably either Panoptes or Atheon, maybe The Sanctified Mind. Either way, they’re all custodians. Panoptes takes care of the Infinite Forest, Atheon takes care of the Glass Throne, and The Sanctified Mind was the steward of the Black Garden. Imagine what could be done with a Vex mind devoted to research and knowledge gathering, or a true warrior mind instead, and how that could bounce off whatever paracausal-aligned forces make it out of the Final Shape expansion, if there even are any. There’s some great Post-Final Shape stuff there.

[@mobslayer211]

Savathun is dead. Her body is in the city. Her ghost survived (Immaru?) and given the right opportunity could revive her again. As far as Vex allies go it's not impossible. There was a harpy at the end of season of the splicer that communicated with us in morse code saying "Assistant" which the presumed dead (the radiolarian lake crashed down on him after the collapse of the pyramidian so it's possible he was converted into a vex like he had already started to) guardian Asher Mir always referred to us as

[@nicki8584]

Great video

[@erikm8373]

You know, maybe we should hear out Clovis' ideas about destroying the moon. Let Xivu summon all her forces to ready an assault, then blow them all to hell.

[@raven-starcatcher]

xivu arath has multiple moon's worths of hive. nuking the moon would probably just make a bigger portal, and she could likely bring her war moons through

[@HauntedAnimations]

I think she is gonna pull a Torabotl and try to invade through an act of war, she is a god of war after all

[@EmperorHotshot]

I had this realization the first week and damn near fell out of my chair. It’s a Catch 22. Either we rebuild Rasputin, a weapon of war to fight war, and summon Xivu; or we do nothing and Xivu Bombs us from Orbit. Either way, Rasputin is likely the only entity that can figure out a loophole in this dire situation.

[@ownagemester]

This is really interesting because this could be the seasonal storyline that runs in parallel to Lightfall's campaign. That would be really cool, some Guardians defending earth from Xivu while others go to fight on Neo Muna against Calus and the witness

[@clarkehughbanks9081]

This is brilliant and makes total since for the ritual of war.

[@Kensen_Ackles]

Clovis: Now, you're absolutely positive you don't want me to blow up the moon for you?

[@vonhellsing6406]

5:00 there is another Periscope of lore in this there's a random pickup with a nightmare of ghaul on the Leviathan telling the story of ciatyls advisor descending into madness and obsession when she was studying hive tactics and artifacts. It's usually in the Royal pools when you're wandering around the ship

[@thomaspurol9322]

Hit the nail on the head with this one

[@-gg8342]

The lore lately has been awesome!!!!!!!!!@!@!@!@!!

[@shadowfalcon7140]

Quite honestly the best way to win against this trap if it turns out to be true is by re activating Rasputin as he has the fire power to fight such a large invading force. I think xivu underestimates Rasputin, unless her goal is not to attack the city but rather disable Rasputin permanently and prepare for the events of lightfall, where Rasputin can no longer help. It's pretty much gonna be a big sacrifice.

[@joelbarr1163]

It's interesting to hear that transferring oneself from Ascendant space is a matter of will, meaning conciousness. Possibly tying in to "the weave" again

[@Spike2276]

Your theory sparked a tangentially related thought in me: could Immaru be doing something similar for Savathûn? She could be conjured and reborn through trickery before, and seeing as Immaru is her Ghost and can't currently revive her by traditional means...

[@maka134679]

Quoting Ghaul from season of the haunted: "the cabal revere warriors, they don't worship war itself, war without purpose is wasteful, war without honor is butchery, that's what set's us appar from the hive"

[@tylerojuri7296]

Need mor byf vids I’m bored as heck only thing that keeps me interested

[@YeetleMcBeetle]

"Happy Dawning Xivu! Awwww, Savathun! Thanks!" *Torabatl burns*

[@Umashido]

Ultimately, while I think we'll succeed in keeping Xivu from setting up a beachhead for now, I don't think we'll be able to stop it for very long. Maybe we'll be able to slow the advance in some way, probably through Eris's knowledge, but that's essentially putting a band aid on a open wound.

[@codyhouse6436]

The ending gave me chills. Oh how interesting the web is

[@johnprice6271]

"All warfare is based on deception." Nobody that's capable of leading a war reveals all their cards, even if it's a game ending one, and someone claiming to be a "God of War" is definitely going to hide their hand the best they can.

[@DragonKnight90001]

And to think Xivu Arath outlived her sisters, this is surprising before witch queen was announced I really thought Savathun would out live Oryx and Xivu. But this….. she must have millions of strategies running through her mind she could use.

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

@@DragonKnight90001 Savathûn still ain't dead yet.

[@DragonKnight90001]

@@Flamme-Sanabi true but the vanguard has her body somewhere most likely only Eris morn, Ikora, Zavala and only a select few of the hidden know where it is other than that we don’t know where Eris morn has most likely done some hive magic on her body too after dissecting her, there will definitely be attempts (maybe a successful attempt to in future content), there’s no doubt there but at the moment we’ve got bigger problems than Immaru, if he stops giving the lucent hive orders in the throne world or there’s less chatter then he’s probably up to something, Fynch will let Ikora or us know when something is up.

[@stranger242]

@@DragonKnight90001 Savathun isn't technically dead, And oryx lives on the touch of Malice.

[@DragonKnight90001]

@@stranger242 yeah that’s true, I completely forgot about touch of malice

[@AvatarBowler]

That tidbit about Hive breaching the portal on Torobatl and their numbers not seeming to dwindle despite losses on their end from Cabal missiles reminded me of the sentinel fight at Zion in Matrix: Revolutions before the main tower was destroyed. If anyone has seen it, I think you’ll know what I mean.

[@Gassy1337]

This whole situation reads like a box of "Captain Espionage: Oops! All Warmongers!"

[@fractyl3250]

I think the key to whether or not we fall into the trap is who ends up winning in regards to Ana remaking the Warmind as an individual, or Clovis remaking Rasputin as a weapon

[@urazz7739]

I can see it happening where Clovis wins at first and Xivu beats the crap out of him and then Rasputing regains his individuality and ends up beating Xivu because of that (because he learned that war does have an end.).

[@Tahkaullus01]

I don't think it's that simple. In my mind, reactivating Rasputin at all will do the job. We could beat Clovis to the punch and get Ana's version of Rasputin... but that is still the most powerful weapon we ever created coming back online. What better invitation to the God of War than to call back the War *_mind?_*

[@austinwilson7373]

I think there was a leaked cutscene that has Rasputin talking to us saying it is unwise to trust Clovis but that could very well be after Clovis jacks him

[@imbadatgamesree]

Merry christmas

[@bmo8272]

Xivu is my favorite. Brilliant plan.

[@EtheltheGomezel]

I cannot help but be reminded of the time Oryx summoned back his sisters from their “final deaths” in the books. The “You are war” chant was included there too. If those accounts are actually true; then I wonder if Xivu might be attempting something similar with this ritual. Perhaps, given the nuance that can exist within war, she is attempting to summon back Oryx (and/or any prominent Hive presently out of play) in some form. We did get the Touch of Malice back in D2 not long ago. Then there is the talk of the difficulty of Xivu just summoning her amassed army; and now the mention from Rasputin of the nebulous paracausal focal point that is The Veil. I can’t help but think of someone “tearing The Veil”.

[@stevenpedersen1505]

If you think about it, this isn’t the first time this year we’ve been in a Lose/Lose situation, Eris specifically told us at the end of Haunted that it wasn’t really a victory. What if that line was to mentally prepare us for what would happen this season?

[@garrettviewegh677]

Maybe. I could see us saving Rasputin, and him reclaiming his arsenal, the Warsats. But Xivu Arath could end up being summoned somehow to the edge of Sol. With the Worm Gods sent by the Witness to claim Mars, the Moon, and Europa. Eroupa, because a worm god could then reclaim the abandoned Pyramid for the Witness. Mars, because a Worm God could claim the area that holds Rasputin’s bunker, and the Moon, to use the Scarlet Keep, and the Hellmouth as a beachhead, to embolden the Hive there, which would force Eris to leave.

[@billkirk70]

I see the most strategic invasion point as not only the moon, but a corrupted traveler! Bam, right on top of all of us!

[@main.ignisha]

Reading Xivu Arath arrive to Europa and Clovis demanding id really raised some hairs, that "I AM WAR" definitely sent chills.

[@TheDragonman55]

This kinda reminds me of something from the tabletop game Rifts. I don't remember all the details, but it involved a world war that counted as the blood sacrifice required to open inter-dimensional portals all over the world.

[@TheRealDawny]

Very noice byf

[@gingja]

The lore this season is just so damn good

[@caffinatedredpanda9964]

This could be the next seasonal story bit, during our fight on neomoona she gonna pop up.

[@xXxCaptRebelxXx]

Us fixing a problem that ends up causing the next problem is kind of our M.O at this point

[@HammerdWalrus]

So to quote Cayde from the Red War: "so we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't."

[@TelestoTheBesto]

Xivu is our direct counter. Any death will feed her power, and we kill a lot of things. And if we don’t kill, we let her forces do what they want. Xivu definitely has a good play.

[@BingoSandyman]

Wow!

[@codeman7780]

So here's my thoughts on it....if we were to go the way of Clovis and try to control rasputin, we would likely complete the ritual of war and fall into Xivu's ultimate trap. But...by Anna's insertion of things like data on the humanities (art, literature, music, etc) we restore Rasputin's sense of self and likely...his sense of intuition. The lore we've been getting from the most recent lore books shows his understanding and actual experience with emotions (which is super fascinating by the way). And I believe that by using his insane abilities to compute and analyze data, in addition this sense of intuition that I feel he has....he'll find fucking a loophole in the logic of Xivu's ritual that prevents us from summoning her. He's going to show us that he's the more clever war god haha.

[@Nadiki]

I think you’re right. Maybe he’ll use his arsenal for defense instead of offense, or get rid of his arsenal entirely. There can’t really be a war if you throw down your arms

[@Flippyisawesome13]

"Sometimes the best way to spring the trap, is to spring the trap." - Hawthorne, The Arms Dealer strike.

[@grimms1916]

Ive been quoting this line since xivu became our primary antagonist: in the game of war, the only winning move is not to play. We are being goaded into abandoning the gentle city ringed in spears and stepping onto the fields of battle with the only being in the universe that grows stronger the more we fight her

[@user-dd8oo4tv1l]

It was xivu, who bound her court to the battlefield. Thinking of this, xivu is probably the size, maybe bigger than oryx in his throne world when she attacks us. I just cant find a way we dont loose our city when xivu is able so open a bridgehead in sol. Even her alone could rip anything apart. Rasputin could maybe handle her armies but hell, xivu is just on another level. My biggest wish is, that they give her the epic cinematic she deserves.

[@Clique..]

im simple Byf posts, i watch

[@thomaspurol9322]

For a moment I thought the thumbnail was a darkblade being taken over by siva. Merry Christmas by the way

[@JJAG3]

You should have made a video on the dawning

[@Rayrayplaysall]

With war we just fought against callus I think it will feed into season of the deep. Which in turn xivu might play a role in.

[@demte84]

Oh i wish this video had some illustrations going on, besides gameplay. But regardless a great video!