We all have our things. Bad temper, supernatural ability to stumble and fall, poor memory, problems maintaining attention… There is no need to be ashamed and just resolve to be better every day. Personally, I have had to be clueless to the core inside and outside of video games. Surely many of you understand that about having things in your nose and not seeing them even if they have neon lights.
Being clueless has played tricks on me in video games, that’s why I try to watch everything seven times… although sometimes an eighth or ninth is missing. My latest feat in this regard was in Destiny 2: The Final Form. I played the campaign until I reached the threshold of the Witness and did not continue due to a small oversight.
I had heard and read that the final confrontation would be in the raid Edge of Salvation (where you also face the Witness) and it seemed obvious to me when I saw that the Schism mission is for 12 players. Additionally, the game shoved a sign in my face announcing the final challenge as soon as I finished the previous mission. I let it go somewhat annoyed and continued exploring the Faint Heart to get the new exotic weapons.
The end of Destiny 2’s Final Form: goodbye, old friend
The activity begins with a scene in the style Avengers: Endgame o The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The guardians and all our allies together at the gates of the Witness. Elixi, Cabales, Colmena, Insomnes and Humans. Commander Zavala delivers the most epic speech of his life and, even though he lost the Light and has suffered greatly during his time in the Weakheart, he has found a new path in Stasis thanks to Ikora.
There is no time for minutiae. The fate of the universe Destiny 2 is decided in a two-phase final battle. First I face the Witness’s last line of defense alongside my 11 fellow guardians. The battlefield is a monumental chaos: shots, abilities and supers flying everywhere, explosions, shields destroyed and enemies dying non-stop.
A decade of conflict, anger and loss drives us and we sweep through defenses like a tsunami. The Witness summons his elite forces, including the fearsome Torturers. It doesn’t matter. Titans, sorcerers and hunters take united objectives. We are an immovable wall. Savathün herself joins our ranks. “Don’t let it be said that I was missing when I was needed!” she says.
The doors open and we finally reach our final goal: the Witness. The incredible San-14 He only has one order for us: “Guardians, keep this shield no matter what!” he says before invoking the Ward of Dawn. The battle begins and our nemesis summons all his remaining troops.
I don’t really know what to do or where to go. It’s chaos. Titans charge and destroy everything in their path. Hunters jump from side to side, shoot and move like lightning. Sorcerers summon wells and unleash monumental power of elements. Savathün and Nimbus cover our backs. Ikora and Zavala guide the attack strategy.
I only need a few seconds to understand our mission: to extract the light of the traveler from the cracks and channel it to maintain the Ward of the Dawn of Saint-14. When we gather enough, we are transported to a huge hall with stone statues. The 12 guardians wield the swords of the Traveler and attack them all, fraying the Witness from within. There’s no mercy. The time for restraint has passed with Amanda Holliday.
We repeat the process several times and discharge all our power against the heart of the Witness. They kill us again and again, but we return after a few seconds under Saint-14’s Shelter of Dawn. A dozen angry and revenge-thirsty guards firing each bullet at the same target.
“What’s done can be undone,” says our Ghost. “I know what I must do. Guardian, channel the light of the traveler through me. I am ready.” We all acquire a new super ability, one that has the logo Destiny 2. It is the definitive attack that ends a decade of conflict between Light and Darkness. The moment is incredibly epic. It’s not every day you experience something like this. I make a big jump to get face to face with the Witness and launch the attack.
My wraith turns into a ball of ultra-bright light and fires a torrent of pure light from the traveler. Never had a guardian wielded such excessive power. “We don’t understand it. I don’t understand it.” These are the last words of the Witness before exploding into thousands of cosmic lights that spread through space.
The attack has been too much. My spectrum rises into the air, as if struggling to get out of the water in search of a breath of air, but it doesn’t find it… and falls without light, inert. I lose the light while I hear the impact of its casing on the ground. It sounds like hard plastic, similar to a toy that falls off a shelf. Is dead.
I notice my lower lip trembling. I try to contain my emotions while the guardian begs the Traveler to resurrect his companion. Seven years of adventures are not to be taken lightly. “Well, he did shine brightly,” says Cayde-6, who suddenly appears behind me. He gives me a small smile that releases all the pent-up tension.
What comes from the light always returns to the light, that’s what my Sundance once said, and that we are all connected. Guardians, ghosts, the Traveler… Tell the others that it was my decision, my light. No one else forges my destiny! I bet on you, never forget that. – Cayde-6’s last words
I am unable to contain my emotions and tears escape. Not just for the moment, but because I realize he was right: Bungie brought back Cayde-6 to give us a chance to say goodbye to our old friend, each in his own way.
The exo knew his purpose very well and had no qualms about letting it fall during the campaign: “But in life you have to know how to say goodbye. Well… I died. You cried. I was at peace and now… I have returned to open old wounds and pour salt on them. In the end, you have to say goodbye.
Bungie has not been a coward in bringing Cayde-6 back and has shown a lot of bravery in taking him away from us again, but this time in a better way. He has said goodbye to Zavala and Ikora, he has forgiven Cuervo and passed the baton of the Hunter Vanguard to him, he has fulfilled his promise to destroy the Witness and given his light to our Specter so that we can continue his legacy. If this isn’t achieving redemption, I don’t know what is.
The era of Light and Darkness is over (now it is), but Destiny 2 is far from seeing its end. There are many adventures ahead with the Acts and the many threats that still haunt the universe. It has been incredible to live these seven years of history and to have been present during this perfect culmination. Bungie promised something up to the mark and they have more than delivered. Now I can say with a peaceful heart something that I have been keeping for many years: goodbye, my friend.
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