WTTM
WARNING: The following contains slight spoilers for Destiny 2: Season of the Lost.
When the next expansion for Destiny 2, The witch queen, will be launched early next year, the Guardians will invade the World from the Throne of Savathûn to destroy it. The witch queen was clearly marketed as the long-awaited arrival of Savathûn herself in all her might. But despite being the climax of the tale, Savathûn isn’t the only one who can claim the title of The Witch Queen.
Mara Sov, Queen of the Awakened, implemented a plan the day she and all those who were to become awakened were consumed by a black hole that formed at the convergence of light and darkness. Whether by chance or on purpose, she observed, expected, and ultimately guided the current (and possibly future) events of destiny – all for the sake of his plan. Now in The season of the lost, the Guardians are working directly with Mara Sov in an alleged collaboration with Savathûn.
The queen’s plan or fate?
Mara Sov was a member of the Amrita Project aboard the Yang Liwei ship at the end of the Golden Age. The purpose of the ship was to spread humanity into new worlds not under the influence of the Traveler. However, the mission failed after the conflict between Dark and Light encapsulated the entire solar system. At the time of the collapse, an event horizon formed that tore the Yang Liwei apart. The Awakened were born from this meeting of Darkness and Light, and Mara Sov was the first. The one who was the first to determine the law upon which awakened life exists.
Mara then convinced many immortal awakened people to leave the vending machine that became their home after the collapse. They became mortal and rejoined life in the solar system. Mara became Queen of the Reef after discovering her paracausal powers of telepathy. She established the Corsairs as her information system, the Techeuns as her paracausal knowledge seekers, and the Queen’s Wrath as those who protected and implemented her as yet undisclosed plan.
Mara Sov rose to a position of authority among the Awakened. She shaped those who stayed with her as an extension of her will. Since then, she has been busy forging alliances, so in large part to protect the survival of the Awakened.
Sword and Bomb
destinyThe story arc of has been on a collision course with the true face of Darkness for some time now. At the end of The king caught, the Guardians defeated Oryx and ushered in a new era of struggle under the looming threat of middle sister Savathûn. While it was the Guardians who destroyed Oryx (presumed dead, but possibly still alive somehow), they did so under the leadership of Eris Morn, who worked with Mara Sov – and Osiris.
Mara Sov’s body died with his fleet above the tangled shore in combat with Oryx’s battleship. While the solar system was preoccupied with fending off the threat Taken, she invaded her world from the throne. This bet cost his brother his life. Her own dream city was attacked while she was away, and she relied on others to defend it.
One wonders why Mara took these steps. Once she dreamed about the logic of the beehive, and in this dream she learned about the rules governing the three beehive gods and how she could overcome them. The first dream came under the sword and bomb analogy. The sword pierced as a direct weapon while the bomb was a set of parts hiding the real weapon inside. Oryx was defeated by Mara allowing herself to be killed. But while her body died, she was able to infiltrate her throne world and get what she was looking for.
The dream showed him the mind of Savathûn, someone ruled by the concepts of life and death. It was said that Savathûn was incapable of keeping secrets in the game she had established. With that in mind, Mara Sov made what she calls a deal with the Hive God in Season of the Lost.
The Tech-Witch Queen of Secrets
The value of secrets cannot be underestimated for the Awakened; it is partly for this reason that Mara is queen among them. For the Awakened, secrets act as a preservation of information. All life can be reduced to information. Therefore, as the keeper of secrets, Mara Sov acts as a defender of life – questionable as she and her methods may be.
In The season of the lost, Mara Sov enlisted the help of the Guardians to free her Techeuns trapped among the ley lines between worlds. She tells the Guardians that this will allow her both to free Savathûn from his worm, leaving the Hive god vulnerable, and to save Osiris. Whether or not this is the true extent of the arrangement is unclear. What is clear is that Mara Sov and Savathûn are both playing a game with each other.
Mara rallies her forces – with the help of the Guardians – while trying to save her late brother Uldren from Savathûn’s influence. She still hopes that she can bring Uldren to the surface of Crow’s mind. Savathûn, meanwhile, uses this very possibility of Uldren’s return and the threat of Crow’s downfall as leverage to distract Mara from her ultimate plan. Savathûn welcomes this game and also invites the Guardians to challenge him directly once his worm is removed.
The story of Mara Sov is curiously interwoven with all the events of destiny. The witch queen The expansion may just be Mara Sov’s ultimate power offer that firmly secures her place as a major player in whatever cosmic game she plays.
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