Summary
The combative world ofDestiny 2holds many secrets, and with each new expansion come fresh challenges, raid races, and pieces of lore for players to immerse themselves in their role as Guardians. Lightfall, Bungie’s most recent addition, took gamers on a journey to Neomuna, introduced Strand - the second Darkness power - and also brought a new mystery for its fanbase to ponder. The Witness' search for The Veil is in full flight in the latest expansion, and the absence of concrete detail about the artifact (or entity) irked some fans, especially since almost every NPC involved in the plot knew what it was. However, Season of the Deep has some answers for players, and the mystery of The Veil is closer to being fully unraveled inDestiny 2.
Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion didn’t have the best of launches, as it came under fire for providing gamers with more questions than answers to the universe’s mysteries. The Witness has wanted The Veil for a long time, and from theLightfall trailer, its communion with The Traveler pointed it to Neptune. Guardians knew they had to stop it, and there was a general expectation that the reasoning behind The Veil’s importance would be revealed upon Lightfall’s release. However, to gamers' dismay, there was no explanation offered throughout Lightfall’s campaign, although Bungie has attempted to remedy the oversight with new developments, and theories are starting to form as to the truth behind The Veil’s secrets.
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The Veil: A Power Shrouded in Mystery
Since its first mention by Rasputin before his sacrifice at the end ofSeason of the Seraph, The Veil has beenDestiny 2’s hottest topic of discussion. Described by Rasputin as a paracausal force, The Veil is thought to possess links to the Traveler, and many Guardians believed only The Witness knew how to wield its power. For much of the duration of the Lightfall expansion, there were only a handful of speculations regarding the nature of this power. All players knew was they had to race against time to get to The Veil’s hiding place before Calus and The Witness.
In the absence of certainty, the flowers of theories started to bloom, and some have since risen to prominence. Given The Veil’s supposed status as a link between the Paracausal forces of Light and Darkness, a fewDestiny 2faithful believe it is a physical embodiment of a metaphysical veil between the powers. In recent weeks, more concrete clues have started flowing in, as theParting The Veil questin Season of the Deep gave players some much-needed insight into this riddle with a cutscene of the origins of The Witness.
The cutscene showed the original people of The Witness' discovery of the Darkness while investigating The Veil’s connection to The Traveler, so it can be inferred The Veil is adark mirror of The Travelerand the source of the Darkness' powers through this bit of lore. While the cutscene shed light on Lightfall’s storyline by touching on The Witness' origins, another avenue for players to research The Veil’s backstory has also existed inDestiny 2for a while, unknown to most players and hidden behind a wall of accessibility issues.
The Veil’s Secrets Are Not Being Told Boldly
Destiny 2’s Veil Containment missionhas seen weekly updates of lore concerning the game’s biggest mystery, and most players are blissfully unaware of the quest’s existence, as shown by recent statistics. This lore trove isn’t easily accessible to Guardians, as players must complete the lengthy Unfinished Business Exotic quest before gaining access to the mission. Additionally, the weekly updates come in the form of audio logs, and Guardians have to travel to a remote corner of Neomuna’s map each week to catch up with the latest lore tidbits.
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The logs with the most exciting information on The Veil come in the story of Weeks 8 and 9. These audio recordings belong to Chioma Esi, a member of the Ishtar Collective before the Collapse. Week 8 informed players that Chioma and her wife - Maya Sundaresh - traveled to Neptune after the Collapse and established Neomuna as players know it, also discovering The Veil. Somewhere along the line, Maya became obsessed with The Veil and the Vex, and the log revealed Maya’s creation of an Exo clone of herself called Lakshmi-2. This link is evident in Lakshmi-2’s similar obsession with the Vex inSeason of the Splicer.
Week 9’s audio logs likened The Veil to a web of consciousness - organic instead of artificial likethe Vex inDestiny 2. Chioma Esi rationalizes why the Vex would want control of The Veil, musing over paracausal simulations. Taking the grander scheme of things on Neomuna into account, the audio logs should lend some logic to a few occurrences on Neptune. Not much is known about how exactly The Veil powers Neomuna and projects its citizens' minds into hologram form, as well as Maya’s creation of her Exo consciousness.
The Veil Containment mission might require a trip to the outskirts of Neomuna once a week, but the consistent lore developments and insight into The Veil’s nature should be enough of a draw for Guardians. After the expansion’s debacle, which led many players to believeLightfall was only a filler DLC inDestiny 2’s story, Season of the Deep has finally answered a few burning questions from the fanbase. The accessibility issues stand in the way of this knowledge, however, and a large chunk ofDestiny 2players might miss out on important lore developments because of its botched delivery.
Destiny 2is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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