The Traveler
From Destinypedia, the Destiny wiki
| The Traveler | |
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Destiny
 Red War
 Post Red War
 Arrivals
 Lightfall
 The Final Shape
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| Biographical information | |
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Other name(s): |
The Great Machine |
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Gender: |
Female (implied) |
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Affiliation: |
The Light |
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Notable info: |
Primordial source of Light |
- "The best voices never let themselves be heard at all. This lesson is worth teaching again and again. The choice is never mine. It is always yours."
- — The Traveler[1]
The Traveler is a mysterious spherical paracausal entity associated with the Light. Massive in scale, it hangs motionless in the skies above the Last City built in its shadow. Once responsible for terraforming the worlds of the Sol System, it was rendered largely inactive during the Collapse, when its ancient enemy arrived and launched a devastating assault on human civilization.
Overview
- "The Traveler protects the remnants of humanity from the continuous onslaught of the Darkness bent on humanity's eradication by projecting a shield around the City, and gifts the Guardians with ancient and mysterious powers."[2][3]
The Traveler is an ancient and immensely powerful machine entity, the source of Ghosts and the Light-based powers of the Guardians. It is a source of Light, though not the only source in the universe. Its outer shell is made of lead, neutronium and "electroweak matter"[4], with the latter being based on a fundamental force that hasn't existed since the dawn of time.
The interior workings of the Traveler largely remain a mystery. The Ghost Balthazar claimed that Ghosts originate within the Womb, a place inside the Traveler described as a "cosmos inside a bottle" or an "infinite space enclosed within a celestial egg", where trillions of star-like souls orbit each other in a complex weave. Another Ghost named Peach was dismissive of this description, contending that neither she nor Balthazar can remember the time within the Traveler.[5] Fenchurch Everis claims to have been inside the Traveler, but no one has been able to confirm the veracity of his story.[citation needed] While not described as the inside of the Traveler, the Pale Heart serves as a domain of the Traveler's consciousness that could be reshaped by those within it.[6][7]
The Traveler seems to be motivated by pure altruism; it has never wished to be worshipped as a god, nor has it made its presence known any more than necessary to cultivate a civilization. In the past, it would simply leave without fanfare whenever its work was finished.[8] It would seem then that its defense of humanity was an extraordinary act under dire circumstances.[4]
History
The Ancient Past
The origins of the Traveler are unknown, although it is known to have existed for billions of years. In one of her messages to the Guardian through Sloane, Ahsa refers to "two halves of a whole, long divided",[9] which in context seems to suggest that the Traveler and the Veil were once part of a single entity, or at least share a common origin.
As revealed by Ahsa, billions of years ago, the Traveler lay dormant and half-buried on a desolate planet, where a humanoid species discovered it. It then awakened, either of its own accord or as a result of the species' actions, and proceeded to terraform the planet and bestow paracausal gifts to its discoverers, much as it would later do with many other species. This brought about a golden age for the species that lasted millions of years. The civilization worshipped the Traveler as a deity, calling it "The Gardener".[10]
Although the Traveler brought the civilization great prosperity, it never made any attempt to communicate or impart wisdom or guidance. As a result, the society began to crave meaning and sought to find something that would bring order and purpose to an otherwise open-ended existence. In their studies of the Traveler, they also came to view the Light as a fundamentally capricious and chaotic force, equally capable of bringing life or death with no ultimate justification for either.[10]
At some point, the species discovered that the Traveler had a counterpart entity, located in a distant star system. They named this entity the Veil and determined that it was a source of power that was the opposite of the Light, one linked to the mind and consciousness rather than the physical world: the Darkness. In studying the Darkness, they discovered that it held the means to guide the universe into a perfected, eternal form, a "Final Shape" that would last to the end of time and beyond. In this, they found the purpose they had sought for so long.[10]
To achieve their goal, the civilization determined that they needed to bring the Traveler and the Veil into close proximity, strengthening their connection and, in so doing, granting them the ability to alter reality itself. They set out to locate and retrieve the Veil and brought it back to their homeworld so that they could form a link between it and the Traveler. However, the Traveler was apparently unwilling to allow this outcome and responded by leaving the planet and fleeing into the distant reaches of space. Unwilling to abandon their quest, the civilization used the Darkness to bind their consciousnesses together, merging themselves into a single, unfathomably powerful entity: the Witness. Empowered by the Darkness and commanding a fleet of pyramidal ships, the Witness left its world behind and began a crusade to find the Traveler and unite it with the Veil, and in doing so bring about the Final Shape.[10]
Lubrae
Billions of years ago, the Traveler visited the Lubraeans and uplifted their civilization. However, it eventually left, and the Lubraean civilization gradually descended into a military dictatorship restricted to a single city, with those who rejected the regime wandering the wilderness as nomads.[11]
The Rise of the Hive
Sometime after visiting Lubrae, the Traveler visited the system of the gas giant planet Fundament, where it uplifted a species known as the Ammonite who lived on one of Fundament's 52 moons.[12] Following this, it detected a primitive species known as the Krill that resided on a floating continent in Fundament's planet-wide ocean. It sought to use them for its own purposes, and fearing that the Traveler would imminently visit and bless the Krill with its Light, the Witness manipulated a young female Krill, Sathona, through her dead Worm familiar, leading her and her two sisters to find the Worm Gods imprisoned within the planet's core- an event which would lead to the Krill becoming the Hive.[13] The Traveler subsequently fled Fundament's system, leaving the Ammonite to die at the hands of the Hive.[14]
Later, the Hive would also encounter and defeat the Harmony, another civilization uplifted by the Traveler.[15]
Riis and The Whirlwind
- "You do not mean to stay, but longing and kinship forestalls your departure time and time again. These little gardeners are such careful stewards of fragility. They sing songs of disasters averted and loved ones lost. They fashion heavy elements combed from the bones of old stars into objects of peace and beauty."
- — The Traveler, observing Eliksni civilization on Riis[16]
The Traveler visited the planet Riis at some point before coming to the Sol System, uplifting the Eliksni species. Unfortunately, as with every world visited by the Traveler, Riis was attacked by the Black Fleet, as well as possibly Oryx's Hive.[17] As it had many times before, the Traveler fled, leaving the Eliksni at the mercy of the Black Fleet as their civilization was destroyed. This event became known in Eliksni history as the Whirlwind.[18]
The Golden Age
- "Traveling. Moon X. Look, we need to stop even thinking of it as a satellite or a false moon. It's big, but it acts alive— this thing moves with purpose. It's a visitor. It's… a Traveler."
- — Evie Calumet
According to the poem Dreams of Alpha Lupi, during its journey between systems, it detected a "face" emerging from the Sun, later hearing a roar that contained something that it described as "a lucid melody". The Traveler felt joy, as it felt "the first hope in ages transform [it]," and resolved to become strong enough to fight the Darkness.[19] Although the meaning behind the poem is unclear, it appears the Traveler chose to visit Earth for a reason.
The Traveler first came to human attention when it appeared around Jupiter and terraformed two of its moons. Initially dubbed "Moon X", it quickly became the center of international attention. After finishing its work on Jupiter, it vanished for fourteen months, reappeared to terraform Mercury, vanished again for seven months, and then appeared again to terraform Venus.[20] Questions about the identity of Moon X abounded, and cults worshiping it emerged, some of which fell into conflict.[21] Other cults held demonstrations calling for the unification of Earth's governments.[22]
When Moon X was detected approaching Mars, a mission to intercept it was hastily organized.[23] Initially known as Project Catamaran, the effort was renamed Ares One on the day of launch.[24] Four individuals were chosen to be apart of this historic mission: Jacob Hardy, the pilot and mission commander; Evie Calumet, a theoretical physicist who first discovered Moon X; Ulysses Qiao, the navigator; and M. Mihaylova, an artificial intelligence specialist. While the team played a game of basketball and brainstormed ideas for the mission, Evie dubbed Moon X the "Traveler" due to it moving with a seeming purpose.[25] By the time the ship landed on Mars,[26] the Traveler had brought the first rain to the desert planet.[27][28] It helped humanity expand across the solar system, teaching humans new technologies, helping them terraform planets and leading humanity into a Golden Age.[citation needed]
The Collapse
- "The knife had a million blades."
- — Dreams of Alpha Lupi
Sometime later, the Black Fleet appeared in the Sol System, leading to the destruction of almost all human civilization in an event known as the Collapse.[29] For the first time, the Traveler decided to stand and fight the Black Fleet,[29] as it abandoned its work on Io and raced to rescue its "children", humanity.[4]
The exact timeline of events during the Collapse remains unclear, but it is known that the Traveler made a final stand against the Black Fleet, incurring severe damage in the process.[citation needed] During the battle, it managed to project a beam of Light into the far reaches of the system to protect the Exodus Colony ship Yang Liwei from the Black Fleet, resulting in the ship being swallowed by a kugelblitz generated from the conflict between Light and Darkness.[30]
The Black Fleet subsequently withdrew after the Witness was tricked by Savathûn, the Witch Queen into calling off the attack,[31] with Savathûn having killed the Disciple Nezarec and hidden the Veil, a mysterious paracausal entity evidently key to the Witness' plans, away on Neptune.[32] After the battle was over, the Traveler remained floating a relatively short distance above the Earth's surface, seemingly dormant, having apparently been stripped of its senses and "flesh" and made blind, deaf and mute to the outside world.[33]
As humanity struggled to rebuild itself from these events, the crippled Traveler gifted its protection and powers to the recovering humans. Although the times after the war were difficult, humanity persevered, and with the help of this celestial guardian, the humans eventually began to re-explore their terrestrial and solar domain.[34]
The Dark Age
In its last breath, the Traveler created the Ghosts to seek out those who can wield its light as a weapon. The Ghosts revived fallen warriors as Lightbearers, with the intent of protecting humanity when the Traveler no longer could.[35] Unfortunately, many Lightbearers would choose to become Warlords, subjugating the survivors of the Collapse throughout the Dark Age, where humanity faced the threat of not only the Warlords and the hardships of survival, but also the threat of alien races such as the Fallen. Lightbearers with integrity would band together to stand up to the Warlords in groups such as the Iron Lords or the Pilgrim Guard.[36][37] Over time, the Warlords would be beaten back.
The City Age
- "I wish for something to grow in my shadow."
- — Constellations
The remnants of humanity on Earth built the Last City beneath the resting place of the Traveler, where they were safe from the continuous onslaught of the various alien races and the now-declining Warlords. Over time, the people of the early City formed factions, dividing it and marking the beginning of the Faction Wars, which threatened to bring the City to its knees. It was during this time that a new generation of Lightbearers known as Guardians emerged, taking a stand to end the fighting to focus on the outside alien threats.[38]
Eventually, a lone Guardian embarked on a quest that would help the Traveler slowly restore its power, first by stopping a Hive ritual in the Chamber of Night that was siphoning Light from the Traveler,[39] and then destroying the heart of the Black Garden.[40] After these events, the Traveler remained seemingly catatonic, showing no outward signs of activity.[citation needed]
Red War
- "In this dream, a horrible, brutal hand stretches toward you. But this is not the old enemy you know, it is something new."
- — Constellations
Two years after the Taken War, the Cabal Empire's Red Legion launched a major invasion of Earth headed by the leader of the empire, Dominus Ghaul. A devastating surprise attack on the Last City was launched, trapping the Traveler in a cage to siphon off its Light while separating it from the Guardian forces.[41] Though trapped, the Traveler sent visions to the now Lightless Guardians to seek out one of its fragments in the European Dead Zone, whereby they could regain their powers.[42] Dominus Ghaul attempted and failed to win the Traveler's approval to make him into a Guardian, and simply took the Light by force. When he gloated in front of the Traveler, the Traveler suddenly broke its cage and destroyed Ghaul, as well as slowly healing itself by drawing fragments back into itself. With the invasion ended and the city retaken, the Traveler was declared no longer dead but living once more.[43]
Despite having awoken, the Traveler remained hovering above the Last City and had not taken any direct action. However, Benedict 99-40 claimed that the Traveler has been busy.[citation needed]
Sharing Visions
A year after the Traveler woke, Ikora Rey revealed that the Traveler had been speaking to her and several other Guardians through visions since its awakening. Ikora then instructs Guardians to follow visions of light. Eventually, the visions lead the Guardians to Io, where the remnant light there grants them new abilities.[44]
An Old Foe Returns
As the Guardians continued to protect the Last City and the Solar System from various threats, ranging from a looming Lunar Hive Fortress,[45] a resurgent Vex invasion,[46] scheming Psion Flayers looking to subvert time,[47] to the Red Legion superweapon, The Almighty being turned into a kamikaze weapon directed towards the Last City,[48] the Traveler's old enemy, the Witness, slowly made its way towards the system. Though the Guardians soon gained a glimpse of the Darkness from their discovery of a Pyramid on Luna, the threat continued to ominously hang over them, especially as the Witness made contact with the Guardian, addressing them not as their enemy nor their friend but as their "salvation".[49]
In time, following the Almighty's destruction, a massive fleet of Pyramid vessels descended upon the Sol System, confirming the Vanguard's fears that the Traveler's counterpart had returned. However, as the Guardians worked to decipher what the Witness wanted, the Traveler continued to hang motionless over the Last City, even as the Pyramids touched down on various worlds.[50] Even Zavala noted that the Traveler appeared to do nothing to combat its ancient enemy.[citation needed] Nonetheless, the Guardians continue to work diligently on figuring out the purposes of the messages the Witness was sending while protecting their holdouts in the system.[50]
As the Pyramids approached and consumed Io, Mars, Mercury and Titan, the Traveler, in an event which saw all fireteams return to the Last City to witness it, gathered light to repair the damage which had been caused by the events of the Red War.[citation needed]
The Traveler later called out to the Crow, sending him dreams of flying over the European Dead Zone and other areas he had previously visited. When the Guardian went to investigate the locations featured in these dreams, they discovered paracausal feathers at each site.[citation needed] Later, the Crow and the Guardian went to a region of the EDZ featured in these dreams and were led by a spectral hawk made of Light to a previously undiscovered shard of the Traveler. On top of the shard lay an effigy of the Hand Cannon Hawkmoon, crafted out of the material of the Traveler's outer shell.[51]
Disturbing Revelations
- "DISCIPLE OF THE DARK.
Adversary?
THIS ONE IS NOT FOR YOU." - — The Traveler to Rhulk, as the latter examines a Ghost
During the events of The Witch Queen, The Guardian discovers that the Traveler, seemingly intentionally, chose to grant the Light to Savathûn, the Witch Queen and her Lucent Brood for an unknown purpose.[52] Through the usage of the Relic on Mars, it is learned that the Witness tricked the Hive into becoming its servants to avoid them being uplifted by the Traveler itself, like what occurred with many other civilizations.[53] As a method of protecting the Traveler from destruction, the Light-bearing Savathûn attempted a ritual to bring the Traveler into her throne world, after which she would seal off entry for all beings. Despite succeeding in drawing the Traveler in, Savathûn was defeated at her own game, and the spell is broken, causing the Traveler to return to the Last City's sky.[54] Whether it truly wished to be brought to the throne world, wishing for the Hive to supplant the Humans, Exo, and Awoken as its Guardians, and if it even purposely chose the Hive, is still unknown.
At some point during these events, the Disciple of the Witness Rhulk had the Scorn under his command bring him a Ghost for study. His efforts were thwarted by the Traveler, who took direct control of the Ghost and rebuked Rhulk before causing the Ghost to explode.[55]
Nowhere Left to Run
Despite the disturbing revelations of the Traveler gifting the Hive the Light, it remained within the Last City as the Guardians prepared for the Witness's return and prevented a Second Collapse from happening. Though the Guardians gained allies in the form of the Imperial Cabal and the Eliksni House of Light, battled resurgent enemies such as Calus becoming a Disciple of the Witness and Eramis breaking free of her Stasis cocoon,[56][57] the Traveler's old foe drew closer. Lately, the Guardians worked to restore the Warmind Rasputin so he can regain control over the Warsat Network before Eramis and Xivu Arath's Wrathborn, forced to work alongside the likes of Clovis Bray I,[58] who would later be relieved to possess the delusion that only he was worthy of being humanity's savior as he originally intended to have Rasputin destroy and then replace the Traveler.[59] Following this, Clovis was cast out, but Eramis nonetheless gained access to Rasputin's protocol to attack the Traveler, ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE, if it ever intended to leave Earth.[citation needed]
