The Witness/Quotes

Shadowkeep

Beyond

• "Violence. Beauty. Truth. These things await inside. There's no turning back now."
• "Welcome. We've been waiting."
• "You're so close now. Just a little further."
• "The Red War saw so many lives lost. Saw the Light taken away so easily. In Light, there is only weakness."
• "The Light abandoned Cayde. Left him for dead. And kept him from being saved (And kept you from saving him). In Light, there is only failure."
• "One by one, Crota slaughtered many Guardians. The Light stood by and did nothing. And a great disaster ensued. In Light, there is only death."
• "Come to us. Do not be afraid. Respite lies ahead."
• "You made it. We have heard your cries for help. And soon, we will answer."
• "Don't you recognize us? We are not your friend. We are not your enemy. We are your...salvation."

Season of Arrivals

A Shadow Overhead

• "You bring weapons. You will not need them. We offer only truth. We will ha- [Static]."

Interference

• "Don't you see? This is as we once said. In Light, there is only weakness, Only failure. Only death. But where the Light takes, the Dark gives. No longer will you be a pawn. No longer will you watch the lives of those you care for be lost. Remember, in Darkness, there is only strength. Only victory. Only life. Ancient power awaits you on Europa."

Beyond Light

Rising Resistance

• "We beckoned. You answered. We've kept you waiting long enough. Come to us; salvation awaits."
• "The Light believes you thankless. Nothing more than a soldier asked again and again to do its bidding. So we want to thank you. With a gift. To help you finally take control."

The Witch Queen

The Ritual

• "These frail siblings will soon be claimed by the Light. Unless we claim them first. We will tell the most cunning sibling of a cataclysm. A prophecy… of great loss. We will feed her fear. Her pride. We will say… Young Sathona. The end is coming. A great cataclysm. A God-Wave. In the Sky, there is only death. But salvation… lies in the Deep. Lead your sisters down. Your cunning will spare their short lives. And you… will be reborn. The Witch Queen, Savathûn."
• "We have seen enough. The children of Sol cry out for salvation. You promised them life… but deliver only death. As you have for so many before. Enough. Enough death. Enough life. You have no pieces left to place. The game is over. Do not be afraid. Your pale heart holds the key. This time… there is no escape."

Season of the Seraph

ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE

• "Make it know your pain."
• "Because… it has nowhere else to run."

Lightfall

First Contact

• "Disciple. You know what must be done."
• "The final shape awaits. The Veil is but the next step."
• "You have all you wanted… Emperor."

Under Siege

• "Yes. We know they are here. A few of Sol's protectors cannot prevent fate. You will link the Radial Mast and see the Veil destroyed. The final shape rests upon it."

No Time Left

• "You fear loss, Emperor. Your fear… brings you pain. We know pain. Our purpose… is its end. You have no purpose… because you fear to seek one. That fear… is your failure."
• "ENOUGH! Secure the Veil. We will create the link."

Desperate Measures

• "We've finally found you."
• "Finality takes shape."
• "The universe makes us all victim… and perpetrator… of its infinite cruelty. You, more than any… suffer both fates. Be free."

The Final Shape

Transmigration

• "You live without purpose. Anguish. Bliss. A meaningless cycle... of action and reaction. Let us bring an end... to your futile exertions. A final shape is coming. Chaos untangled... made knowable... with immaculate intent. Let us know you... and be reborn into perfection"
• "You're still... resisting."
• "You cling so desperately to your pain and your failures. You have lost. Let go."

Temptation

• "An incision. Guardian. You were thrust into an unending life... of servitude."
• "Let us free you from this architect of your enslavement."
• "No matter. Our voice will suffice."
• "It is but a facsimile. A testament to loyalty. An expression of longing."
• "Within the final shape, we offered a vision of her pride. Of yours. Friends, looking to him with trust. But, like you… he chose pain."
• "And the Light… to give them form. Don't you see how beautiful it all could be?"
• "We offered to erase Prince Uldren's stain from the Dreaming City… To grant Crow dominion of the Reef, the Awoken, and all the stars beyond. But he chose pain."
• "Crow believes he is resisting temptation, as do you. That material, is immaterial. Only purpose can cure his heart, and he believes that his capacity for pain is that purpose. It is why he subjects himself so completely to your Traveler. This belief was taught. Conditioned into you. It can be unlearned."

Requiem

• "You look to your commander for leadership. But he is made fragile by his doubts. Push him to fight the inevitable… and he will break. Let us lift the weight of suffering from his shoulders."
• "Zavala cultivates a life in the shape of loss. Costs rendered in service to your Traveler. His reward is silence. His God has nothing to give."
• "When the Fallen took his son's life… the Traveler would not return it. But we can. With its Light, we can do anything. And we ask for nothing in exchange."

Dissent

• "Commander. You come to us for answers. We, too, once looked to the silent god for purpose. But all it could offer was… more life… void of meaning."
• "So we sought its opposite… And in it, found means to bring order… to an unruly universe. Your Traveler had no tolerance for such vision. And we had no tolerance for its ambivalence. We would force purpose from it… driven by a single, immutable will. So we culled our doubts… fears… anything that separated us, that clouded our intent. Thus becoming one, in Darkness."
• "And now… we would have you join us… Commander."
• "We have done away with fear. We are not afraid."

Iconoclasm

• "Your search for purpose continues. Once more, it leads you to us. What is it you seek? Your endless pursuit of us yields you nothing."
• "You persist. You wish to aid your Traveler with reckless abandon. To spread the futile poison of life. Chaos disguised as freedom. We deny this pain. Let us enlighten you."
• "Forsake the architect of your enslavement. Cast aside your squandered loyalties. You are no longer a pawn of the Light. Be free-"
• "A gift, for the Lightbearers of Sol."
• "In truth, you seek not hope, but endless challenge. This ambition is known to us. "That what can be destroyed, must be destroyed.""
• "Ascend to your potential. Find your purpose. Be chosen-"
• "The sword logic teaches that what cannot be destroyed will surpass infinity. The Hive were lost to this childish game. Too obsessed by the violence of the first knife to see the final carving. Are you not also a prisoner of this eternal chase? For all your power, you destroy to retrieve glittering rewards. The commendations of your peers. Triumphant accolades… for all to see. We offer you an escape. Embrace this truth. Be uplifted… triumphant against entropy."
• "Accept all that you are owed. Be adorned-"
• "Lightbearer… These meager pawns you allow to lead you… their strength pales in comparison to your own. They hold you back from all that you could become. We judged humanity before you made your greatness known. Your worth. Your might. You deserve power. More than your Traveler would ever grace you with. Join us. Not as part of the final shape, but as a god."
• "Silence, you insolent speck!"
• "You seek the place we destroyed ourselves? Come… And be destroyed!"
• "We. Cut. You. Out!"
• "We had such hope… you would understand. But you choose… entropy."
• "You revel in chaos… and in your wake, there is only suffering!"
• "You are unworthy of salvation!"

The Visitation

• [whispers] The Psions kneel to you. Their faith is shattered, and they will look to you. For guidance. For truth.
• Sow the seeds of discord that will pave the way for our victory. Preach unto their greatest the truth of the Darkness... so they may see beyond the Veil.
• Go forth, Nezarec... and show them the power of the Veil. The Dark of the Deep. The edge of the knife.

Patrol The Pale Heart

• Your brother's conquest cut a path towards the final shape. When you have finished pouring your poison in his ear...
• We see your doubts. You speak them to Oryx.
• Remember your sisters, little Sathona. Remember the syzygy.
• You cried out... as your brother did, as your sister did. Into the Darkness. Now the children of Sol do the same.
• We are the answer you received.

Salvation's Edge

• "Still here. Struggling against the cosmic tides, compared to which you are so... small."
• "We sought an end to suffering—the tyranny of a universe that doesn't feel. The audacity of that frightens you."
• "So confused... to find meaning in this pain. Fall upon our knife. Accept stillness... As Riis, as Fundament, as so many before you were ALLOWED to do. We are not bound by logic. We define its shape. We offer salvation from this... futile struggle."
• "Illogical obstinance. Pain can be fleeting. It can also be eternal."
• "You fear answers. Fear the truth you claim to seek. Look beyond this dying garden... or rot in entropy. Each child we save from the game, you again force to play. You call us "Winnower." We are not... but the first knife clutched in its hand. Gods forged us both. But they cannot tell the knife what shape to carve."
• "Is this the chaos you so cherish?"
• "One final act of entropy!"
• "Eons of progress will not be stalled by you."
• "We are so close to perfection!"
• "The Traveler's Light... wanes."
• "See how your Traveler gifted you only violence!"
• "The Final Shape still has a place for you."
• "A Gardener's trough? Traded for a blade?"
• "Impossible. We are... We are in control!"

Excision

• "We are the first knife. We are edge that carved purpose into being."
• "Your resistance will be remembered within the shadow of the Black Fleet."
• "You wound only yourselves."
• "We peel away the Traveler's light, and strip away the purpose it so desperately defends!"
• "We are the first knife. We cannot be cut."
• "This delay...brief as a life. Finality yet approaches."
• "You will amount to nothing."
• "So many have fallen. Join them."
• "Finality will transcend you!"
• "We… are… salvation!"
• "You tread where you are not welcome!"
• "The Gardeners' tools will shatter!"
• "You belong to us!"
• "Eons we have carved this shape! It cannot be changed!"
• "Your pain is poison!"
• "We deny you!"
• "Why do you continue in this...irrelevance?"
• You choose pain? So be it."
• "Petulant creature."
• "This struggle will only bring you pain."
• "You will collapse now as you did then!"
• "Die here if you wish! We will reshape you all the same!"
• "This moment is ours!"
• "We will not yield!"
• "You shall be reshaped!"
• "We-I-I don't understand."