The Witness

"We have seen enough. The children of Sol cry out for salvation. You promised them life, but deliver only death, as you have to 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."

- The Witness

The Witness, also known as The Entity, or The Voice in the Darkness, is an individual who appears to be the leader of the Black Fleet. It is described by Savathûn, the Witch Queen as a "child of the Darkness," and seems to act as its foremost representative in the physical universe.

Overview
The Witness is a tall, pale-skinned humanoid being. Most of its features are obscured by its metallic robe-like clothing, which constantly ripples and shifts seemingly of its own accord. Its long black cloak emanates the same resonance as other Darkness artifacts have done. Among its most notable features is a column of white “smoke” that continually issues from the top of its head, which forms a multitude of humanoid faces as it spreads and dissipates. Its true face is partially concealed, but it can be seen to have large, dark eyes and a rectangular pattern of gray lines on its brow and forehead.

At times the Witness leaves a series of “afterimages” of itself while in motion; for example, when moving its arms, multiple ghostly silhouettes of its arms will repeat the gesture after a delay. The significance of this is unknown but may be related to its apparent time and reality manipulation abilities.

The Ancient Past
"I stand before a being with a thousand names. It whispers one: The Witness. Remember it. Remember that name."

- Savathun The history of the Witness is almost totally unknown. Contradictory statements from Savathun claim both that the Witness was a mortal creature whose race was empowered by the Darkness and that the Witness birthed the Darkness. What is known is that it has existed in the universe for billions of years. It was present during the rise of the Hive on Fundament. Indeed, it played a key role in the ascension of the Hive by telepathically communicating with the young Sathona via her Worm familiar, telling her that the Osmium Court was in imminent danger of destruction by a tidal wave generated by a syzygy. In reality, there was no such danger: the Witness merely wanted to claim the Krill as servants of the Darkness before the Traveler could arrive and uplift them along with the Ammonites.

The First Disciple
The Witness had a less direct hand in the creation of the Worms as emissaries of the Darkness, as an unknown period of time before it had discovered a dying world called Lubrae, which had degenerated into a military dictatorship after the Traveler had blessed and left their civilization. There, it encountered a warrior named Rhulk, who had entered into an existential crisis upon realizing his parents had betrayed his species' ideology. The Witness converted Rhulk to worship of the Darkness by showing how, from the perspective of the Darkness, Lubrae's history was insignificant and not worth comparing himself or his species to, causing Rhulk to swear himself to the Witness as one of its Disciples. Rhulk would later discover the Worms' homeworld and subjugate them to worship of the Darkness.

The Collapse
The Witness had a direct role in the Collapse, alongside its Disciples and Savathûn, the Witch Queen. According to Savathûn's Worm, the Witness intended to destroy the Traveler during this event, but was somehow tricked by Savathûn into allowing the Traveler to survive. As a result of this deception, the Witness and its Black Fleet returned to intergalactic space, where they would remain for centuries before the Traveler made its continued existence known at the end of the Red War.

Return to Sol
The Awoken Queen Mara Sov encountered the Witness beyond the heliopause of the Sol system. There, it showed her a vision of the impending future upon its arrival, and subsequently offered the Awoken Queen the opportunity to become one of its Disciples. The Queen refused and fought the Witness and its armies throughout the ascendant plane before returning to the Dreaming City.

Trivia

 * The Witness seems to always refer to itself in the plural; Savathûn also makes reference to the Witness having "many selves". This suggests that the Witness may be a gestalt entity or "hive mind" of some kind.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Season of the Chosen
 * Season of the Lost
 * The Witch Queen