Speaker (title)

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Speaker is a title held by numerous individuals, most notably The Speaker. They are individuals who could hear the Traveller during the Golden Age and spread the teachings of the Light, but after the Collapse their numbers dwindled and their connection to the Traveller was damaged.

History[edit]

The First Speaker to see Ghosts[edit]

"I let the little Ghosts follow me. We talk about what the Traveler was like before the Collapse. They like to hear it, and I like to remember."
— The Third Speaker

After the events of The Collapse, the Traveler cut itself into a tiny pieces and sent them out into the world. The Third Speaker attracted one of those pieces which he thought was a surveillance drone, but on closer look saw something organic and natural which was nothing like their old technology. Eventually they called them Ghosts as some were childlike, while others were apathetic and world-weary. The Speakers ghost interjects by saying they're all searching for something.[1]

The Speaker would attract many Ghosts who follow him around questioning how the Traveler was like before the Collapse and what the Traveler told him. He suspects that deep with core they still remember being whole with the Traveler. The Speaker also reflect on all the dreams he can still remember, as he hasn't dreamed since the Collapse and felt like being in a dream state again.[1]

He continues his travel through the wilderness; slowly being reclaimed by nature, to his reach a settlement where resources are scarce and land so poisoned crops won't grow. The Speaker describes the harsh conditions of human living as they now protect themselves and rarely venture out at night as Wolves prey on their livestock and Bears wander around their compound.

Walking through the settlement, a Ghost leads him to a barn and asks him to out of sight as he will "scare her". The Speaker, bemused, crouches back and observes the Ghost hover over the remains of a person and scans it with pale light. To his amazement, The Speaker witnesses the body of a woman awake and gasp as she sits up. The Ghost calms the women with her words and The Speaker feels amazed and jealous and later ashamed to what he witnessed.[1]

The First Speaker held Captive[edit]

"Why did the Great Machine leave us?"
— Dreg to The Fourth Speaker

As the Fallen began their siege against Earth to reclaim the Traveler, the Fourth Speaker was taken captive by a group of Fallen. The Speaker was dishearten to have been caught by a Dreg and was dragged to a cave miles away from his camp. Inside the cave, the three Dregs would huddle around the Speaker as he looked around for signs of a Kell or Archon. He looked at them perplexed and wondered if they did something weren't suppose to do as the Dreg seemed uncertain and nervous.[2]

One of the Dregs points a Arc spear at him, while the other watches and the Dreg who captured the Speaker fidgets with a mask. To the surprise of the Speaker, the Dreg wears the mask and addresses him with a translator as the "mouth of the Great Machine". The Speaker was astounded that a Dreg was capable of a feat as he expected high ranking Fallen and Risen to know each others language as they held negotiations that often turned brutal.[2]

The Dreg speaks to him again and the Speaker answers by saying he was. The Dreg attempts to translate what the Speaker said and nods when he understood him. He then asks the Speaker to share the words of the Traveller, only for the Speaker to remain silent as he feared his death.

The other Dregs watched eagerly, with their expressive faces, as one of them lowers his spear. Not discouraged by his silence, the masked Dreg questions why the Great Machine abandoned them with a hopeful tone. As the Speaker stares back, his sense of fear dissipates as he grasped the Fallen grief lost in the chaos. The Speaker responds by saying he doesn't know to the disappointment of the Dregs. The Speaker and his captives sit in silence for a long time with a great sense of sorrow.[2]

The First Speaker to never Dream[edit]

"I wear the mask. Pieces of it, not sanded down, are rough and sharp against my face, but I dream for the first time in my life."
— The Sixth Speaker

While all previous Speakers recollected their ability to dream, the Sixth Speaker lacked this quality, or rather was unable to remember if he dreamed at all. Following The Collapse, the previous Speakers scattered across the world with refugees.[3]

The Sixth Speaker was mentored by another unknown Speaker and never met another individual with that title in his life. Usually the post was reserved to those who were able to hear The Traveler through their strange lucid dreams which blinds them in white light and induces painful headaches.

His mentor however was unable to able teach the Speaker about the dreams, rather taught him through hypotheticals. The Speaker had to imagine what the dreams were like and speculate when the Traveler will awake.[3]

He memorised the four tenets all the Speakers lived by:

  • The Traveler is good.
  • The Traveler is sentient.
  • The Traveler will save Humanity.
  • The Traveler will leave.

Sadly his mentor was stricken with illness and died as a result, leaving the Sixth Speaker as his replacement who thought he was unfit to take the role. He believed his teachings were imperfect and secondhand since his mentor lived to see when the Traveler was awake. To change this, the Speaker worked on a secret project and gathered scraps of metal. He then pieced them together with strange technology and calibrated it to his needs.

The Speaker notes how astrophysicists of the past recorded sounds from the planets and turned them into music and that The Traveler also made sounds. The Speaker built a mask to amplify this as previous Speakers were able listen to the Traveler's Song in the form of dreams. As he wears the mask, he is finally able to dream for the first time.[3]

Known Speakers[edit]

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Bungie (2019/12/10), Destiny 2: Season of Dawn PlayStation 4, Waking
  2. ^ a b c Bungie (2019/12/10), Destiny 2: Season of Dawn PlayStation 4, Longing
  3. ^ a b c Bungie (2019/12/10), Destiny 2: Season of Dawn PlayStation 4, Singing