Editing Toland

{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|image= [[File:Toland.jpg|325px]]
|homeworld=[[Earth]]
|birth=
|death=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Male
|height=
|mass=
|hair=
|eyes=
|affiliation=[[Vanguard]] {{c|formerly}}<br>[[First Crota Fireteam]]
|rank=[[Guardian]] {{c|formerly}}
|class=[[Warlock]] {{C|[[Sunsinger]]}}<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Path of the Sunsinger]]: [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/items/complete-the-path-5 Complete the Path] ''</ref>, {{C|[[Voidwalker]]}}<ref>'''Bungie (2017/8/9)''', ''[[Destiny 2]] - [[Shard of the Traveler (mission)|Shard of the Traveler (Voidwalker)]]''</ref>
|sn=
|notable=Exiled for his apparent madness<br>Creator of [[Bad Juju]]<br>Owned a journal chronicling his discoveries about the Hive<br>Transcended death and now exists in the [[Ascendant Realm]]
}}
{{Quote|Tell me, Guardian: Do you trust me? Do you believe I am an ally of the Light or a servant of the Darkness? What if I told you I was neither?|Toland, the Shattered}}
'''Toland, the Shattered''' was a [[Warlock]] [[Voidwalker]] who studied the [[Darkness]] and [[Hive]] lore, which led to him being deemed mad and exiled from [[Last City]] together with his [[Ghost]] [[Guren]].<ref name = "Bounty">'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - Item Description: [[Quest#Toland.27s_Legacy|Toland's Legacy]]''</ref> He was an expert on "forbidden" Hive arcana; for that reason, he was recruited by the [[Praxic Warlocks|Praxic Warlock]] [[Eriana-3]] to be part of the six [[Guardian]] [[Eris' Fireteam|Fireteam]] who delved into the [[Hellmouth]] in search of [[Crota]]. Considering only Eris came back alive, he was assumed to be dead. But unlike the other members of the fireteam, his fate was never witnessed by anyone else. After Eris' return to the City and the start of her cooperation with [[the Guardian]], messages purportedly written by Toland were discovered, indicating he yet survived in the [[Ascendant Realm]]. He attempted to communicate to the Guardian by unknown means, as he was taking "a debased joy in speaking again to small human-form heads." He is believed to be the creator of [[Bad Juju]]<ref name = "Bounty"/>, an exotic [[pulse rifle]] covered in the bones of an unknown creature. In addition, Toland is said to have left behind [[Shadow Price]], a legendary [[auto rifle]] issued to the Vanguard. Along with Eris and the Guardian, he has also forged [[Deathbringer]], an exotic [[rocket launcher]] that repurposes a captured [[Deathsong]].

==Biography==
===Descent into the Hellmouth===
{{stub|section=yes}}
{{Quote|They want to know what you know."<br>"Yes. And I will tell them, but they will never understand. I'll greet them with a smile and welcome them in. I will learn how we can benefit from their ignorance.|Guren and Toland, when Eriana and Eris approached him about the knowledge how to destroy Crota}}
Many of Toland's discoveries survived him via fragments of his journals and the memories of [[dead Ghost]]s. His studies led him to conclude that the Darkness was the universe's evolutionary endpoint and that its destruction campaign was to ensure that nothing could ever rise to challenge it.<ref name="Darkness 3">'''Bungie (2014/9/9)''', ''[[Destiny]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Darkness|Darkness]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Darkness#Ghost_Fragment:_Darkness_3|Ghost Fragment: Darkness 3]]''</ref> He had a fascination with Hive rituals, particularly the Deathsong of [[Ir Yût, the Deathsinger|Ir Yût]].<ref>'''Bungie (2014/12/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Dark Below]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive|Exalted Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive#Ir_Yût,_the_Deathsinger|Ir Yût, the Deathsinger]]''</ref>

Years after Toland's exile and in the aftermath of [[The Great Disaster]], the old Warlock was visited by [[Eriana-3]] and [[Eris Morn]], who were seeking a way to destroy the Hive Prince [[Crota, Son of Oryx|Crota]]. He revealed to them that Crota could be killed if they were to enter the [[Ascendant Realm]] and slay him within his throne room after defeating his champions. Toland warned them of the many dangers they would face and spoke of the mysterious song sung by the Deathsingers that he wished to understand. Toland decided to join them in their quest to end Crota to learn more about the Hive, and they recruited three other Guardians to their mission: the [[Titan (class)|Titan]] [[Vell Tarlowe]] and the [[Hunter]]s [[Sai Mota]] and [[Omar Agah]].<ref>'''Bungie (2014/12/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Dark Below]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Activities|Activities]]/[[Grimoire:Activities/Raids|Raids]], [[Grimoire:Activities/Raids#Crota.27s_End|Crota's End]]''</ref> As they prepared for their mission, Toland imparted what he knew of Hive lore to Eris, including his knowledge about the [[Ogre]]s known as the [[Might of Crota]], which would be unleashed when Crota's will was challenged. Eris questioned how he had come by this knowledge, and Toland claimed to have learned it from the [[Darkness]] itself.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/12/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Dark Below]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive|Exalted Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted_Hive#Might_of_Crota|Might of Crota]]''</ref>

His fascination led him to attempt to "identify [him]self a friend" in Ir Yût, the Deathsinger. Though the Deathsinger's song destroyed his body, it "redefined him" and enabled his consciousness to survive in the Ascendant realm as an Ascendant soul itself.<ref name="HellmouthOne">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Places|Places]]/[[Grimoire:Places/Moon|Moon]], [[Grimoire:Places/Moon#Ghost Fragment: The Hellmouth|Ghost Fragment: The Hellmouth]]''</ref>

Eris claims to have survived in the Hellmout partially thanks to Toland's journals<ref name="LostToLight">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[King's Fall]]''</ref> and the tricks he had taught her,<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - Eris: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1742g5gP10&list=PLS2hBTtCDufTzSaqZg3KvR_jBGzOjXqm_&index=52 "Toland found me in the Darkness, taught me what I needed to know... and vanished. I know he yet lives."]''</ref> including teleportation.<ref name="LastRites">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Last Rites]]''</ref> She kept a copy of his writings, eventually sharing them with the Guardian and [[Ghost]] to aid them on their quest to defeat the Taken King.<ref name="LostToLight" />

===Journey in the Ascendant Realm===
{{Quote|You fools! You disastrous, bumbling squanderers! It's not right! Who now shall be First Navigator, Lord of Shapes, harrowed god, Taken King? Not you! You might have been Kings and Queens of the Deep! But you have toppled Oryx and you have not replaced him! There must be a strongest one. It is the architecture of these spaces. Why are you leaving?|Toland.}}
Following his death, Toland became a sailor upon the [[Ascendant Realm|Sea of Screams]], exploring the spaces between throne worlds of [[Ascendant Hive]] and taunting the [[Tower]]'s denizens from afar. He tried to make contact with Osiris at that time, but the reason for it is unknown.<ref name="HellmouthOne" />

He watched the Guardian's progress in their war against [[Oryx, the Taken King]], aiding them indirectly through his messages,<ref name="EchoOfOryx">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive|Exalted Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted_Hive#Echo of Oryx|Echo of Oryx]]''</ref><ref name="CourtOfOryx">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Activities|Activities]]/[[Grimoire:Activities/The Taken King|The Taken King]], [[Grimoire:Activities/The Taken King#Court of Oryx|Court of Oryx]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire:Inventory/Heavy Weapons|Heavy Weapons]]: [[Grimoire:Inventory/Heavy Weapons#Dark-Drinker|Dark-Drinker]]''</ref><ref name="OryxRebuked">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive|Exalted Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive#Oryx: Rebuked|Oryx: Rebuked]]''</ref> yet regarding their victories as simply an extension of the [[Sword Logic]]. He was infuriated, however, when the Guardian defeated Oryx but refused to take up the mantle as the new Taken King. It is possible that the reason Toland was so upset about the Guardians refusing to take Oryx's place was that he became a firm believer in the Sword Logic and the nature of the strongest ruling. With the Guardians freeing the Light, not Taking it and leaving Oryx's throne vacant, it was obvious Toland felt the Guardians squandered the chance to take Oryx's place, and more so that the Sword Logic failed and was now broken. This in turn left Toland's deeply held beliefs and his years of studying the Hive all for nothing.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[King's Fall]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Activities|Activities]]/[[Grimoire:Activities/Raids|Raids]], [[Grimoire:Activities/Raids#King's Fall|King's Fall]]''</ref>

===In the Depths of the Dreaming City===
{{quote|Guiding the uninitiated toward a final battle of spectacular futility used to be my specialty, you know. Forgive me if I'm a little rusty.|Toland}}
Toland still journeys through the Ascendant plane between throne worlds; it is also revealed that he created a small worldlet for himself. After her death to Oryx, Toland had an encounter with [[Mara Sov]] on her journey to [[Eleusinia]]. When he questioned her, Mara temporarily drove Toland out of his realm and used it as a resting point for her trek through the Ascendant plane.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]] - Item Description: [[Reverie Dawn Suit#Reverie Dawn Grasps / Gauntlets / Gloves|Reverie Dawn Grasps / Gauntlets / Gloves]]''</ref> 

After being flung into the Ascendant Plane by [[Kalli|three]] [[Sedia|Taken]] [[Shuro Chi|Techeuns]] and battling through Taken, the Guardian would encounter Toland, appearing as a floating ball of light, who reluctantly agrees to lead them back to the material plane.<ref name="Hum">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]] - [[A Hum of Starlight]]''</ref> After this, Toland can be found in the Ascendant Realm in certain spots during an Ascendant Challenge. Once approached, he will disappear and briefly monologue about the [[Taken]] curse within the City.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]] - [[Ascendant Challenge]]''</ref>

===Restoration of the Bad Juju===
{{Quote|Inflict your desires upon reality, Guardian. One good death deserves another.|Toland guiding the Guardians}}
After [[Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer]] went insane, the ensuing Hive corruption tore part of the [[The Leviathan|Leviathan]] between normal space and the [[Ascendant Realm]]. [[Emperor Calus]] located the Bad Juju sometime after this, hoping to lure out Toland, unaware that his physical form had been destroyed. A month later, [[The Guardian]] discovered the place aboard the Leviathan where Calus had left the Bad Juju, whose [[Ahamkara]] essence had gone out of control and affected the distorted parts of the ship.{{Citation needed}}

Within the Ascendant Leviathan, Toland travelled to the epicentre of the rampaging essence, where a crew of [[Loyalists]] were engaged in a deadlock against Taken originating from the [[Hellmouth]], to taunt the [[Cabal]] for tampering with his keepsake. All of the Taken and Loyalists in the realm were eventually slain, and their deaths used to seal the Ahamkara essence back into Bad Juju, restoring it and leaving the Guardian to claim it for themselves.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]] - [[The Other Side]]''</ref> After this, Toland ominously warned the Guardian of threats superior to the likes of the Hive's strongest individuals.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]] - Item Description: [[Bad Juju#Lore|Bad Juju]]''</ref>

===Reunion with Eris===
[[File:Toland's journal.jpg|thumb|300px|Toland's journal the Guardian finds for Eris]]
{{Quote|I will teach you what I know. Executions are so much more fun when the martyr thinks they have a chance against the lion.|Toland, the Shattered}}
When Eris Morn became trapped in the Ascendant Realm, Toland reunited with his old fireteam member, despite her initial suspicions after surviving an encounter with the [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|Witch Queen]]. As they both reflected on their experience with their tragic descent into the Hellmouth, Toland brought up the idea that [[Pyramid|something]] greater was at play and how Savathûn was previously goading Eris into looking into. He last warned her of the dangers she was treading into before she was warped away to the Dreaming City.<ref name="ALITD">'''Bungie (2019/9/18)''', ''[[Weblore]]:[[Weblore:Shadowkeep|Shadowkeep]] - [[Weblore:Shadowkeep#A Light In The Darkness|A Light In The Darkness]]''</ref>

After Eris had accidentally triggered the appearance of the [[Nightmare]]s, Toland turned his attention to the Moon. While monitoring the Hive's activity, he began sharing information with Guardians willing to listen.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[Patrol]] Dialogue''</ref> When Eris sent the Guardian on a quest to harness the Hive's Deathsong, Toland decided to aid them out of curiosity. He guided the Guardian to different components needed to access the song and watched as they slew a new choir of Deathsingers gathering underneath the Moon and used their remains to create the [[Deathbringer]].<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[Faculties of the Skull]]''</ref>

[[Saint-14]] and [[Osiris]] discussed the whereabouts of Toland after his assistance on Luna, apparently researching the Hive in the Dreaming City before the [[Black Fleet]] arrived and [[Xivu Arath]] had unleashed the [[Cryptolith|Cryptoliths]] and [[Wrathborn]] in the Sol System.<ref> '''Bungie (2020/3/13)''', ''[[Weblore]]:[[Weblore:Season of the Worthy|Season of the Worthy]] - [[Weblore:Season of the Worthy#Maintenance Operations Log 30037|Maintenance Operations Log 30037]]''</ref>

Upon Savathûn's rebirth in the [[Light]] and resurgence on Mars, a series of [[Lore:Martian Missives|cryptic missives]], one apparently penned by Toland, made its way into the Guardian's hands. Its authenticity is questionable, though, considering the author claims that "Savathûn will be the universe's salvation",<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Martian Missives|Martian Missives]], [[Lore:Martian Missives#Toland I|Toland I]]''</ref> an opinion which Toland has never before expressed, on top of other suspicious discrepancies. It is suspected these messages were actually sent to the Guardian by the Witch Queen herself, in an attempt to trick them.

==Personality and traits==
{{quote|Life is pain. Pain is power. And power is life.|Toland}}<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - Item Description: [[Agonarch Karve]]''</ref>
Toland was described as one of the chief experts on the forbidden arcana of the Hive, but he grew obsessed with their secrets, which ultimately led to his exile, as the [[Speaker]] believed he posed a danger to the Last City.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/5/19)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[House of Wolves (expansion)|House of Wolves]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Allies|Allies]]/[[Grimoire:Allies/Osiris|Osiris]], [[Grimoire:Allies/Osiris#Osiris|Osiris]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2015/5/14)''', ''Destiny, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Places/The City#The City Age|The City Age]]''</ref> Even centuries after his banishment and death, his writings and artifacts were still treated with caution for fear of corruption.<ref name = "Bounty"/> Toland himself admitted he might be mad in one of his journals.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/12/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Dark Below]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Hive|Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Hive#Ghost_Fragment:_Hive_4|Hive 4]]''</ref> Through his intense research of the Hive and the Darkness, somewhere down the line, he started to believe in the Sword Logic and see it as the force ruling the cosmos, and it infuriated him that he could not make others understand it.<ref name="Darkness 3" />

His main motivation and driving force always seemed to be curiosity. He possesses a deep hunger for knowledge and secrets, even willing to risk his very being to learn them. Eris remarked that it made him predictable, regarding his earlier appearance in Mara Sov's throne world.<ref name="MemoryOfToland">'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[Memory of Toland, The Shattered]]''</ref> He takes joy in preaching his beliefs and findings, and feeling his words are falling on deaf ears irritates him greatly.<ref name="EchoOfOryx" /> He seems to be enjoying his role as a foul guide, laying out a trail of breadcrumbs and watching others follow it. Even his bitterness towards the Guardian would in time be defeated by this, as he angrily remarked he would not be their Virgil guiding them through the dark when he encountered them in the Dreaming City,<ref name="Hum"/> but he would do just that come the [[Haunting of the Moon]].

Toland often speaks in a lofty, sarcastic tone, deriding his listeners for being boring and foolish, all the while clearly relishing every opportunity he has to preach his agenda. His writing is full of poetic language and convoluted metaphors, and Ghost even notes that Toland must not have been "fun at parties" after hearing an entry from his journal.<ref name="LostToLight" />

His relationship to his fireteam was a complicated one, as they valued the knowledge he possessed but were distrustful of his secretiveness, Eris even accusing him of "holding [his] secrets like weapons" to doom them.<ref>'''Bungie (2014/12/9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Dark Below]] - [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies|Enemies]]/[[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted Hive|Exalted Hive]], [[Grimoire:Enemies/Exalted_Hive#Eyes_of_Crota|Eyes of Crota]]''</ref> Eriana blamed him for the fireteam's tragic end,<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - Toland: [[Toland/Quotes#Active Patrol quotes|"Oh, Eriana - vengeful Eriana. Crota may have taken her light, but she left her soul on the battlefield. She had a death wish long before she approached me. In the end, of course, she blamed be for what happened. Pride begets death."]]''</ref> and her Ghost [[Jax]] urged anyone listening not to trust Toland in its last transmission.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[Lore]]:[[Lore:Luna's Lost|Luna's Lost]], [[Lore:Luna's Lost#Ghost Fragment: Eriana-3's Ghost|Ghost Fragment: Eriana-3's Ghost]]''</ref> Eris herself seems to have conflicting feelings about him, feeling as if she should not miss him yet listing him among her friends and arguing that "a fireteam's bond are not so easily undone".<ref name="MemoryOfToland" />

Toland himself admits he has always respected, and still respects, his fireteam members.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - Toland: [[Toland/Quotes#Active Patrol quotes|"I entered the Hellmouth with a sense of fateful inevitability. We would all die, or worse. I knew this to be true. Woefully unprepared was what we were. I stand by that. But it doesn't mean I didn't respect them. I did then, and I always will."]]''</ref> When Eris met him in the Ascendant Plane, he expressed genuine concern about her well-being and warned her of the threat the Witch Queen posed.<ref name="ALITD"/> He does not think too highly of the Vanguard, believing them to be small-minded, and calls the Speaker a "masked hypocrite".<ref name="CourtOfOryx"/> At one point, he vocalizes his respect for [[Wei Ning]], noting that he admired her directness.<ref name="OryxRebuked"/>

==Quotes==
{{Main|Toland/Quotes}}

==Trivia==
*Toland is voiced in Destiny 2 by [[wikipedia:Gideon Emery|Gideon Emery]].
**Who his voice was in Destiny 1 is unknown, however, he did return to voice the E3 Reveal Trailer for [[The Taken King]]. Whether this was meant to be Toland's voice in the trailer or was simply a reuse of an actor is unknown.
*Toland's name may be a reference to [[wikipedia:John Toland|John Toland]] (1670-1722), who was an Irish rationalist philosopher and freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, which are early expressions of the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment. His first, and best known work, Christianity Not Mysterious (1696), opposed hierarchy in both church and state.

==List of appearances==
*''[[Destiny]]'' {{Fm}}
**''[[The Dark Below]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[House of Wolves (expansion)|House of Wolves]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Taken King]]'' {{1st}}
**''[[Rise of Iron]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Destiny 2]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Curse of Osiris]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Forsaken]]''
**''[[Season of Opulence]]''
**''[[Shadowkeep]]''
**''[[Season of the Undying]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Worthy]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of Arrivals]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Beyond Light]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Witch Queen]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Witch]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Season of the Wish]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[The Final Shape]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Episode: Echoes]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Episode: Heresy]]'' {{Mo}}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:Warlocks]]
[[Category:Lightless]]