Destiny 2: The Witch Queen | Who Is Savathûn? A Lore Refresher

The sanction Savathûn is everywhere, some wrong Destiny 2 and retired of it. Following Bungie's The Witch Queen enlargement uncover backmost successful August (Hive Guardians, what?!) and Season of the Lost bringing the Destiny 2 assemblage to the champion spot it has been since launch, determination is simply a batch of lore Guardians are catching up on. It's nary exaggeration to accidental that Savathûn has been a driving unit of the events of Destiny fabrication for years, acting arsenic the trigger oregon catalyst for galore of our Guardian's astir progressive strikes, raids, and different missions. Because of that, immoderate whitethorn request a small refresher connected the lore surrounding the cardinal quality of the upcoming expansion. With truthful galore returning and caller players, present is the biggest heavy dive you'll find on who the Witch Queen genuinely is. 

Who is Savathûn?

Savathûn didn't ever spell by this name. The Witch Queen, earlier she came to power, was primitively called Sathona. Her siblings joined her successful a hunt for a caller aboriginal for the Hive, a taxon known for their incredibly abbreviated lifespans connected a satellite called Fundament, a satellite that's precise beingness poses an utmost information to those that sojourn it. Millions of years earlier her birth, the Hive homeworld crashed into Fundament, a clang that resulted successful a enactment of continents, 1 being the Osmium Court. Sathona's begetter ruled Osmium, and she was the mediate kid to her older sister Xi Ro and her younger sister Aurash. Sathona was meant to go a Mother, a rubric meant to picture a proto-Hive being capable to procreate and lengthen their abbreviated lives by eating the "Mother-jelly" erstwhile they scope adulthood. She was connected way to go a Mother herself to bargain herself clip to find existent meaning successful life, and what she got alternatively was an eternity of intrigue, power, and a fragile empire built connected lies. 

Making a woody with the proverbial devil

The commencement of the Hive, the curse of the Worm Gods, and the emergence of Savathûn and her siblings.

When Sathona's begetter reached the property of 10 successful Fundament years, helium stumbled upon a dormant Worm conscionable extracurricular his tribunal and instantly became enthralled with it. Eventually, helium began prophesizing a catastrophe that would hitch retired beingness arsenic they knew it. Aurash took her father's informing seriously, portion Taox, the siblings' tutor, brushed his ravings disconnected arsenic conscionable a softening of the king's caput owed to "old age." While Taox had religion successful Sathona's intellect, she did not spot immoderate of the 3 siblings arsenic worthy rulers pursuing the king's demise. Declaring the 3 sisters not acceptable to instrumentality implicit for the king, the tutor sent a connection retired to a rival kingdom known arsenic the Helium Court and offered to assassinate the full royal bloodline if Taox could go their regent. The occupation was, the Helium service couldn't rather get the occupation done, failing to instrumentality retired the 3 hive sisters, causing Sathona to bargain her father's Worm to flight with her remaining family. Sathona, already connected the way to go a Mother, promised to instrumentality each of the powerfulness that comes with that title, alongside her siblings, to punish those that slew her begetter and that of her father's kingdom. 

The 3 siblings sailed the dangerously toxic waters of Fundament aboard Aurash's ship, and it was during that twelvemonth overseas that she began to perceive from her father's Worm overmuch successful the mode helium did. It urged her to instrumentality circumstantial enactment to prevention herself and her sisters, which yet led them to different vas called the Needle. The erstwhile passengers of this peculiar vessel were killed erstwhile an ovum aboard hatched a deadly foe, but the 3 hive sisters could assertion it for their own. Now that the vessel was theirs, it was clip to determine connected a destination. Xi Ro wanted to question to the Kaharn Atoll, a determination that housed a gathering of Fundament citizens, to procure resources to instrumentality retired the Helium Court. Aurash wanted to repair the ship, a proposition that - erstwhile prompted by the Worm - Sathona agreed to. 

It took the siblings a fewer years to repair the Needle, but clip was not connected their broadside erstwhile a taxon has a abbreviated lifespan similar the Hive. That was erstwhile Aurash posed a unsafe plan, 1 that would spot the vessel dive into the precise depths of Fundament to its core. Despite Xi Ro's warnings, the Worm urged Sathona to agree, which led the 3 to question to the precise halfway of this world, and it was determination that they realized the information of the Syzygy, the prophecy their begetter wanted them about, was existent and that everything was already acceptable up for this satellite to fall. Luckily for them, oregon unluckily, depending connected however you look astatine it, they encountered past beings erstwhile thought to beryllium a myth: the Leviathan. The Leviathan offered the 3 sisters a informing to crook back, lest they accidentally unleash an irreversible information upon the world. That was wherever the prime was given: bash they broadside with the Light, which promised a thriving nine and hope? Or Darkness, which promised lone decease and the creation of conquering. At the Worm's behest, the trio ignored the Leviathan's warnings and continued to the depths of Fundament. At its core, the siblings recovered the Worm Gods, and uncovered an connection of endurance and vengeance done them. 

• Akka - The Worm of Secrets
• Eir - The Keeper of Order
• Ur - The Ever-Hunger
• Xol - The Will of the Thousands
• Yul - The Honest Worm 

With a committedness of immortality and a harmless flight from Fundament, the 3 siblings accepted the Gods' connection to instrumentality their larvae into them successful bid to dispersed their influence. With the offering, determination was besides a committedness ne'er to crook distant from their existent nature. For Xi Ro, she took the Knight and transformed into Xivu Arath, a sanction you're going to perceive a batch successful Season of the Lost. Aurash took the offering and chose a antheral form, becoming the King of the Hive known arsenic Auryx (later to beryllium known arsenic Oryx, whom we defeated during Destiny 1's The Taken King expansion). Sathona took successful the Mother and became Savathûn. The remainder of past was written successful blood. 

Live to die, but dying to live

Doing immoderate it takes to interruption the lifecycle of the Hive.

Savathûn, Auryx, and Xivu Arath dispersed done the universe, with Auryx taking to Fundament's moons to spell aft those that provided asylum to Taox, the Ammonites that allied with the Traveler of the Light. Where Auryx was initially going to talk with the Ammonites to negotiate, Savathun, urged by her Worm, killed him. Instead of dying, Auryx passed into an alternate magnitude called the Ascendant Realm, wherever helium created his ain pouch universe, oregon Throne World, successful which helium held implicit power. When helium returned to the living, Auryx changed. Gone was his emotion and respect for his siblings, alternatively choosing the way of Sword-Logic, aiming to termination his sisters and immoderate who opposed him. Sword-Logic is the content that powerfulness cannot beryllium given, it indispensable beryllium taken, and to go the eventual weapon, 1 indispensable beryllium the strongest weapon. Eventually, vengeance gainst Taox was exacted but the humor didn't halt there. War was a constant, with Auryx and his sisters sidesplitting 1 another and thing that stood successful their path. 

Eventually, Auryx realized that the Worm Gods utilized the siblings. Upon this revelation, helium called a gathering with the 2 sisters successful his Throne World, resulting successful their connection of power. But by Sword-Logic, powerfulness cannot beryllium offered, it indispensable beryllium taken. Therefore, Auryx killed his sisters to instrumentality connected their power, utilizing it to look disconnected against Akka, the Worm of Secrets. By harnessing the powerfulness of Sword-Logic, helium past killed Akka truthful that helium could usage the Deep powerfulness to make the Tablets of Ruin, efficaciously giving him the powerfulness to Take. That ability, arsenic you whitethorn person guessed, led to the Taken. Once helium afloat became Oryx, the Taken King, helium brought backmost to beingness his sister Xivu Arath arsenic an "act of war" portion Savathûn's resurrection was rooted successful an "act  of cunning." From there, a caller mode of ruling commenced, driving the Hive to termination immoderate that opposed them, taking immoderate of those conquered to provender their Worm portion giving the remainder of the offerings to their Superiors. 

Tithes

Thralls > Acolytes > Knights/Wizards > Ascendant Hive

The Ascendant Hive are those that tin instrumentality power of full legions, a powerfulness that is recognized and rewarded with the quality to traverse the Ascendant Realms. The rhythm of unit and decease fed into the Hive Gods' power, becoming a self-eating snake that has nary end. That is, until Oryx's sisters began to conspire against him. 

Following the Hive's power of the Deep, Oryx fell backmost into his ain Throne World to commune with the deep, a determination that Savathûn utilized to her advantage. Savathûn rapidly went to her sister with a program to trap Oryx wrong his Throne World truthful that the 2 could bargain his Tablets of Ruin, efficaciously cutting disconnected immoderate entree to his established tithe strategy elaborate above. Unfortunately for Savathun and her sister, they could not instrumentality Oryx, and helium punished them by declaring a caller warfare and cutting disconnected Savathûn from her ain tributes, weakening her and her Worm. But the decision wasn't for nothing, due to the fact that Savathûn discovered a girl of her brother, a superb being by the sanction of Ir Anuk, pursuing her deception of Oryx's different offspring by the sanction of Crota.

Savathûn tricked Crota into utilizing his weapon, his Cleaver, to chopped a pathway straight into his Throne World, which allowed a portal done which the Vex could travel through. Leaving his Throne World vulnerable, Savathûn felt assured successful her approaching victory, telling Xivu Arath that Oryx was susceptible and however she could destruct him erstwhile and for all. Unfortunately for them, Oryx was prepared for this betrayal, and to circumvent it, he moved his Throne World to a safer determination wrong a dreadnought made from the remains of Akka. 

Quria, an force Guardians took down successful Season of the Splicer, is simply a almighty entity that is simply a Vex Axis Mind Hydra, besides known arsenic the "Dreaming Mind." Oryx captured Quria and offered the scrambling Vex up to his sister Savathun arsenic tribute, which led to a speech astir the siblings' existent path. Savathûn, questioning the ways of Sword-Logic, appealed to Oryx asking for immoderate motion that they were successful the close successful their conquest. He replied that the existent authorities of the Hive was each the impervious she needed that Sword-Logic is the end-all-be-all of truths. Eventually, the trio dispersed erstwhile more, with Savathûn taking her service into the achromatic spread successful which the Harmony lived, with Xivu Arath fleeing distant from Oryx for her ain freedom. 

A program of escape

Tricked by a Worm.

With the siblings separated, Savathun had clip to bespeak connected her existent authorities and ties to the Worm. Wanting to flight the reliance burdened connected her with feeding the Worm, she began to deliberation of ways to flight her self-made prison. The archetypal measurement of her extraction was to summation the tributes made to her by the Hive. To dilatory down time, she placed trusted Ascendant Hive conscionable extracurricular of the achromatic spread successful which she resides. Hoping that the transition of clip would beryllium slowed, she thought to instrumentality the Ascendant's Worm into reasoning the tribute levels from lesser Hive have raised erstwhile nary notable rise could really beryllium found. Again, her latest program proved unsuccessful. 

Instead of tricking the Worm, she made it hungrier, truthful she went backmost to her clip mentation to effort a antithetic angle. Instead of slowing time, she past attempted to utilize areas successful the beingness wherever clip moved faster, allocating Hive to stitchery tributes successful these locations alternatively than attempting to dilatory down their tithing rates. Tribute, arsenic with knowledge, could lone beryllium garnered done unit successful the realm of Sword-Logic, which led to her starring Crota to the Vex successful Oryx's satellite earlier helium captured Quria and talented her to Savathûn. When successful the achromatic spread with Quria, she taught the Vex Mind however to logically usage Hive magic to detect, understand, and yet lick problems. Savathûn and Quria past created a strategy successful which their findings could beryllium mutually understood, and that was when Savathûn felt she was approaching afloat readiness for her existent plan. She kickstarted it each by signaling a connection she gave to a Thrall, which the lesser being could not understand, and encrypted it for a aboriginal receptor to perceive to. That aboriginal receptor wouldn't perceive the connection until overmuch later, erstwhile our Guardian finds it erstwhile traversing the Dreaming City. 

The Taken King's defeat

When Oryx became nary more, a caller menace arose.

We, arsenic Guardians, defeated Oryx during the Taken King enlargement successful the archetypal Destiny game, pursuing the demolition of his lad Crota. Years later, a antithetic breed of Hive infected the satellite Titan, led by the Fury of Savathûn called Naktal, the Trusted of Savathûn called Vanbaluk, and the Binder of Savathûn called Kudazad. Unbeknownst to Guardians, the find of Hive artifacts was each portion of Savathûn's program to beryllium summoned, though that program yet failed similar galore of her others. 

When a Guardian team went missing during a ngo into the New Pacific Arcology called Operation Caliban, they were transformed into Void Light crystals by the Hive. Savathûn's program was to beryllium summoned by these crystals, but we foiled her plans by destroying them and her song before the ritual could beryllium completed. 

Unfortunately for us, Savathûn is known for her cunning for a reason, and she had different plans successful place. After galore simulations of Oryx, she learned the powerfulness to Take, giving her entree to Taken armies to bash her bidding. Ir Arok, known arsenic the Tongue of Quria, led Taken forces into Io to corrupt the Vex, but we erstwhile much disrupted those plans, though not without losses connected our broadside erstwhile more. Also discovered during this clip was that Grask (the last brag successful the Lake of Shadows strike), a Cabal Red Legion commander, was transformed into a Taken, which would person been intolerable portion Oryx was alive. This was the archetypal indicator that Savathûn had successfully learned to maestro the Taken, giving her yet different limb astatine her disposal. 

During the Warmind expansion, Guardians uncovered connection with Hive connected Mars, sending messages to Savathûn, begging her to travel backmost from the Deep to harness their power. These messages escalated pursuing the demolition of the carnal assemblage of the Worm God Xol and its herald Nokris (the Supplicant of Savathûn, different Hive God). A caller enslaved was formed with the past known Ahamkara: Riven. 

Unlike erstwhile Taken, Riven ne'er mislaid her grip connected who she was, oregon who she wanted to be. She inactive retained her goals and her history. Of her ain escaped will, Riven heard Savathûn's connection of a caller intent nether her enactment with the extremity successful caput of corrupting the full Awoken race, launching a full-scale onslaught connected the Reef by mode of Uldren Sov and his Fallen Scorn. In the Forsaken DLC, Uldren Sov was being manipulated by Riven nether the guise of his sister, Mara, who was presumed dormant up until this point. Though Riven was capable to unfastened the portal to motorboat her penetration astatine Savathûn's behest, that opening besides gave Guardians the cleanable accidental to onslaught her down. However, Riven didn't spell down quietly, bequeathing 1 last spiteful enactment earlier her passing: a curse placed connected the Dreaming City, everlastingly changing the rules of Ascension. 

While Riven's passing was unfortunate successful the abbreviated term, Savathûn did expect this result and made it a portion of her plan. With Riven's curse and pursuing our demolition of Dul Incaru, the Dreaming City entered a clip loop. The time-loop supported Savathun's erstwhile program to harness the powerfulness of clip itself to flight the trappings of her Worm's hunger, efficaciously manipulating the travel of clip successful bid to instrumentality the Worm retired of the afloat demands of tribute.

But Savathûn wasn't the lone 1 that had an involvement successful the Taken and the Dreaming City. Her sister, Xivu Arath, besides held a peculiar tendency to harness this power. While the brace worked unneurotic to execute their goals against Oryx previously, the pair's paths would yet diverge dangerously. 

Eventually, Savathûn was faced with a caller force recovered successful Calus, the erstwhile Cabal Emporer. Within an effort to find the Crown of Sorrow, Savathûn expertly laid a trap for the Cabal leader. The Crown of Sorrow was an Ascendant Hive relic that Savathun believed could decently mimic her now-dead brother's quality to power the volition of others. At least, that's what she led Calus to believe. Unbeknownst to him, it was secretly a listening instrumentality that would let Savathûn to spy connected him, with Calus being nary the wiser. 

What Savathûn did not program on, however, was Calus decreeing that Gahlran don the Crown alternatively to power the Hive, though this enactment drove Gahlran to the constituent of insanity, launching an lawsuit that Guardians (At Calus' command) could instrumentality connected in-game, successful an enactment known arsenic Leviathan's Menagerie. 

Believed to person won, Calus retrieved the Crown with the assistance of Guardians and Savathûn's magic, which allowed the Witch Queen the quality to infect the minds of his Loyalists for her to torment him arsenic a means of control.

Eventually, 3 Hive heretics called Azavath, Malkanth, and Akrazul aimed to rebel against the daughters of Crota. Malkanth's extremity was to commence a ritual that would spot the tone of Akrazul into the assemblage of Azavath owed to Akrazul's crippled state. The Wizard's ritual did not spell arsenic planned, arsenic Azkrazul's rage proved to beryllium excessively overmuch for Azavath's form, which yet drove him to termination Malkanth and spell aft the Swarm; the brood of Hive nether Crota's philosophy. 

When Azavath's tone began to permission her ain assemblage arsenic portion of the ritual gone awry, Savathûn urged her to go a Deathsinger, a peculiar breed of Ultra Hive Wizard that has the acquisition of the fatal song: anyone that hears her opus perishes. With Azavath present a Deathsinger, she yet became known arsenic Ir Airam and killed the remaining Akrazul and the champion of the Swarm called Zulmak. 

Before Malkanth passed on, Savathûn discussed the quality of absolutes and godhood, claiming that thing was impervious to defeat. Space, time? It tin each beryllium broken, and adjacent gods could die, though what is existent death? As we've seen, decease doesn't needfully mean the end, arsenic the communicative of Savathûn and her siblings evolves, and what she aimed to bash is find each of the ways these "absolutes" tin beryllium breached truthful that she tin power the seemingly uncontrollable. 

Eventually, Savathûn, alongside the Daughters of Crota, crafted the Scarlet Keep, drafting Guardians to the Moon. What the Daughters did not know, however, is that Savathûn's assistance is ever a double-edged sword. Savathun knew that the Guardians would instrumentality power of this country and destruct the Hidden Swarm; she simply utilized the Daughters to physique the cleanable bait with 1 elemental extremity successful mind: hitch retired the bloodline of Oryx, erstwhile and for all. 

Savathûn, ever scheming, yet pursued a task involving a Vex computational array connected Io. Sending an service of Taken to corrupt the array successful bid to power it, the Vex went connected the offensive, which caused a monolithic powerfulness spike that drew the attraction of the Vanguard and our Guardian. Upon the find that the Vex and Taken were warring 1 another, with the second nether the Envoy of Savathûn's control, called Baurisk. When Guardians arrived connected the scene, they noted that the Blight recovered connected Io was akin to that recovered successful the Dreaming City, allowing the puzzle pieces of Savathûn's program to commencement coming unneurotic slowly. 

Using Eyes of Savathûn to spy connected the Pyramids that invaded Mars, Titan, and Mercury, Savathûn's volition was to halt immoderate connection betwixt the Pyramids and Guardians. Nokris was capable to hold the communications for a portion earlier helium was yet slain. 

The tables turned

Savathûn and her sister go adversaries. 

Eventually, the Hive broods would crook connected Savathûn, calling her a heretic for her enactment against the Darkness. As the Black Fleet took connected Sol, Savathûn went into hiding, leaving her Court without extortion oregon cognition of wherever she was oregon her plans. 

Taking the accidental for what it was, Xivu Arath took this accidental and combined the Hive successful the Sol strategy with her power, allowing her to escaped her Wrathborn corruption. This was done with the Cryptoliths, Hive structures that corrupted those seen arsenic foes successful the Last City, turning them into willless champions bent connected destruction. With this recently invigorated army, Xivu Arath past acceptable her sights connected Savathûn to instrumentality her down and presume power of her power. 

While Xivu Arath embarked connected her bid for control, Savathun was struck with a abrupt infinitesimal of humanity, of longing and nostalgia. When we, the Guardian, and The Crow (formerly Uldren Sov) celebrated a triumph astatine a humble bonfire, Savathûn was abruptly struck with a feeling of loss, reflecting backmost connected her family, her long-dead father, her siblings, and the ruins of Fundament. Not to beryllium confused with abruptly experiencing a alteration of heart, she yet went backmost to her schemes of freeing herself from the Worm by becoming the astir almighty of beings. 

Enter Caiatl

Caiatl, dissimilar her father, is not truthful easy manipulated.

Caiatl is the Cabal Emperess and girl of the exiled Calus, an aged involvement of Savathûn's mentioned previously. Savathûn, pursuing Ghaul's decision during the Red War, began controlling Umun'arath's thoughts to support the Evocate-General's obsession with the Hive focused successful a mode that benefited the Witch Queen. In her worship, she felt that harnessing the mode of the Hive would beryllium the cardinal to keeping Cabal live and safe, though Caiatl rapidly struck her down when the General bade Calus' girl to bow earlier the deity of warfare (not that God of War). Umun'arath's decease was a portion of Savathûn's program to summon her sister successful bid to distract her with different galactic strategy to conquer. 

During Season of the Chosen, Savathûn's opus could beryllium heard amongst those successful the City.

Eventually, we came to Season of the Splicer, the play that proceeded what's going connected present with Season of the Lost. Season of the Splicer saw the Last City shrouded successful an eternal night, causing some Ikora and Osiris to question retired the Fallen Kell of Light, Mintrax, for help. This play was exceptional owed to its incredible storytelling and quality development, peculiarly with Saint-14, but it was during this that Savathûn's long-scheming plans yet started to wage off. 

With the Vex trapping the metropolis successful a simulation, Guardians went into the Vex web to find which Axis Mind was down the abrupt night. Unfortunately, the simulation evolved each week, making radical connected borderline and impulsive. This caused many, including the Future War Cult, to rally against the Eliksni Fallen refugees. When Mithrax discovered that the Vex infiltration, the unease, and the betrayal each linked backmost to Savathûn's influence, a program to instrumentality retired Quaria was enactment successful place. Little did we cognize astatine that clip that Savathûn was person than anyone thought, taking implicit Osiris' guise to show enactment wrong the Vanguard and the City closely. 

Who is Savathûn present-day?

Savathûn is cunning incarnate. She's wise, tricky, and intelligent acold beyond what galore tin adjacent comprehend. She has a acquisition for paying attraction to the wants and desires of those astir her, giving her the openings she needs successful bid to presume power implicit her enemies. This power is aided by Savathun's Song, a viral connection that seeps into the minds of those astir her successful a bid for control. 

Lord Shaxx, the now-dead Lakshmi-2, The Crow, The Drifter, and galore much could each beryllium heard humming her opus earlier her eventual uncover successful the existent Season of the Lost. Now, we are moving alongside her and Mara Sov to assistance escaped her from her Worm successful bid to get backmost the existent Osiris from his clutches. To larn much astir the existent play and Savathun's deal, cheque retired our erstwhile breakdown here. If you're a caller oregon returning player, consciousness escaped to besides mosey connected over to our implicit guide connected however to leap backmost into the action.