The Guardian

"All of the after-action reports I've shown you about the Taken War, the calm state of the system... we have this Guardian to thank. I've attached more details, if you want to read evaluations from the Vanguard. Just skim Cayde's. He's... not very biased, here."

- Grimoire description The Guardian is a protector of the Last City and a new-generation Iron Lord, who has participated in numerous legendary battles to retake humanity's past from various malevolent forces.

Despite their lack of memory, the Guardian, at the request of the Speaker, joined the fight against the foes of the City. In their exploits they met a mysterious stranger who put them on the path to stop the Vex, eventually resulting in an alliance with the Reef - something that would later prove invaluable to quelling the Wolf Rebellion. At the call of Eris Morn, they helped end the resurgence of Crota's forces and slew the God-Prince personally, attracting the wrath of his father but also putting an end to him as well. Later, during the SIVA Crisis, they helped Lord Saladin stop a techno-plague ravaging Earth from gaining sentience and were responsible for the deaths of various threats left over from the Taken War.

At the start of Destiny 2, the Guardian returned to the Last City only to immediately face its invasion by the Red Legion. After confronting Dominus Ghaul, however, the Guardian was severely crippled due to being stripped of the Light and forced to retreat in defeat. After much sacrifice and determination, the Guardians succeeded in liberating their home, driving the Red Legion away, and awaken the Traveler from its centuries of slumber, restoring their Light and destroying Ghaul forever. Despite this momentous victory, various figures of the Red Legion would attempt to carry on the Red War, either for their own purposes or to finish what Ghaul had started in destroying the Guardians. Despite these new foes, the Guardians maintained their strength and determination, while also contending with major threats besides the Red Legion.

Biography
"[...]Claiming he's seen the future, that he fought Six Fronts fueled on the idea that some Guardian savior is coming? That's insane." "Belief is a heck of a thing." "Sure, yeah. One Guardian's going to fix everything. Kick Crota off the Moon. Make it look like us Vanguard know our head from our hindquarters. Hey, where are you going?" "One of the new recruits from Old Russia I've had my eye on—entering the Crucible for the first time." "Hey, maybe they're the one. We'll call ‘em Crota's End."

- Cayde-6 and Lord Shaxx

Pre-revival
On a mission during the Taken War, Ghost speculates that prior to their resurrection, the Guardian had once been a part of the exodus during the Collapse and had somehow fallen by The Wall, resulting in their death. Wondering why the Guardian still can't remember, Ghost drops the subject.

The Guardian being Awoken contradicts the origin speculated by Ghost as the Awoken were created during the Collapse. The Awoken Guardian was confirmed to have been Reefborn when the Awoken Techuen Sedia stated that multiple Awoken corsairs recognise them from before they were a Guardian.

A Guardian Rises
Centuries after the Collapse, the Guardian was found and resurrected by a lone Ghost searching the Cosmodrome, but before Ghost could explain what had happened, he was interrupted by the roars of a Fallen Captain who had been tracking him. Ghost then led the Guardian into The Wall and helped them find their first weapon—a battered, ancient Khvostov 7G-02. After foraging for more gear, the Guardian kills a Fallen Devil Captain named Rahn, and escapes in an Arcadia-class jumpship revived by Ghost just as Riksis emerges. As the Guardian departs, the Fallen vainly attempt to shoot it down, and a mysterious stranger looks on as the Guardian departs.

After flying through a storm over many leagues of land, the Guardian arrives at The City, a place Ghost describes as the "last safe city on Earth" and "the only place The Traveler can still protect".

Defending Earth
The Guardian gets acquainted with the various Tower residents including the three Vanguard leaders, the Gunsmith, Master Rahool and the Bounty Tracker, as well as the Postmaster and the Tower Shipwright who helps repair their ship. Along the way they visit other Tower residents of lesser importance, including the three Faction leaders and Tess Everis.

Afterward the Guardian returns to the Cosmodrome to find a Warp Drive. They locate a downed Guardian's ship and learn the location of where an existing drive might be found. After battling and killing Riksis, they acquire the drive and return to the Tower to have it installed. Later that night as the Guardian looks up at the Traveler, they meet with the Speaker, who had been with the City since its foundation. The Speaker answers some the Guardian's unasked questions, namely what the Ghosts are, and a brief summary of the Traveler's history with humanity. He then confides in the Guardian his deepest fears: that the Darkness is returning and humanity won't be able to survive it this time.

The Guardian asks what they can do to help, and the Speaker encourages them to join those already fighting to defend Earth until a cure for the Traveler could be found; adding wryly that he hoped Ghost chose his Guardian prudently, to which the robot reaffirms emphatically it did.

Returning to the Cosmodrome at the request of the Speaker, the Guardian heads to the old Skywatch—a complex that once maintained communications with Earth's former colonies—and find the Fallen in an uproar. Pressing deeper into the Lunar Complex, the Guardian discovers another enemy: the Hive. After eliminating all of the Hive enemies they encounter including a Wizard named Gotra, Ghost recalls the Hive have not been seen on Earth for centuries, surmising that their presence here may herald another invasion.

Locating Rasputin
Shortly thereafter the Vanguard reports an upsurge in Fallen activity all over the Cosmodrome. Connecting to the vehicle grid, the Guardian makes their way to the Forgotten Shore via their Sparrow and find a Fallen amplifier. After searching out a second one, Ghost discovers both are linked to the Skywatch as they make their way to the next. Finding a Fallen encampment inside the Terrestrial Complex, they defeat the aliens and hack into one of their machines. In doing so, Ghost encounters resistance from an unknown entity and investigates further while the Guardian defends him against Fallen forces.

After Ghost retrieves the necessary data they destroy the machine. Ghost reports the existence of an ancient Warmind, Rasputin, who somehow survived the Collapse and is defending something later revealed to be the Terrestrial Array in the Cosmodrome.

In an effort to raise this Array, the Guardian finds a lost Dead Orbit team and extracts the codes from their dead Ghosts. Beating off the Hive, who have established a large presence there and are in conflict with the local Fallen, the Guardian enters the Terrestrial Complex once more. Sensing the increased presence of Darkness, Ghost quickly gets to work opening up the Array just as Hive Tombships arrive.

As the Guardians battles the oncoming Hive, including a Hallowed Knight, a satellite dish awakens in the distance and pivots skyward. Once the battle is over, Ghost reports that Rasputin took control of the array and is expanding his reach throughout constructs across the solar system.

Shortly thereafter, at the request of Commander Zavala, the Guardian partakes in a Strike to eliminate Sepiks Prime, Prime Servitor of the House of Devils. Locating the Lair beneath a colony ship the Guardian kills a Baron named Naksis and destroy a Fallen Walker barring their way, and battle Sepiks. After a fierce battle the machine is destroyed, ending the Devils' threat.

Awakening the Hive
On Earth's Moon, the Guardian picks up the trail of another Guardian who went dark searching for a way into the Hive fortress. After hacking a Golden Age colony base, the Guardian travels to the Temple of Crota where they fight off members of a shattered fallen house as well as Hive forces led by Wizard Vurok. Unable to save the Guardian, Ghost recovers the fallen guardians’ Ghost's memories and learns that the Hive are raising an army to invade Earth. Just moments before engaging the Hive, the Guardian hears an unknown voice and catches a glimpse of the Exo Stranger just before the Temple doors open.

In an attempt to uncover further information on what the Hive are planning, the Guardian infiltrates the The World's Grave and kills its keeper, Kranox. The Guardian's Ghost then steals as much data as possible before the two return to warn the City. After looking through Cryptarch records on the Temple, the Guardian infiltrates the Hellmouth once more and claims the Sword of Crota, killing its guards and shattering it in the process. While inside the Hellmouth, the Guardian also follows a lead from the vanished Warlock Osiris, seeking the fabled Shrine of Oryx - a tribute altar. After killing Frigoris and his Fallen crew, the Guardian defeats the shrine's priest, Sardok, and destroys the Shrine.

After successfully decrypting the information from the World's Grave alongside the Cryptarchs, the Speaker broadcasts an urgent transmission to all Guardians claiming that a Hive ritual is draining the Traveler's Light and that nothing else is more important. The Guardian then returns to the Hive Temple and after receiving a message from the Exo Stranger inviting them to come find her if they are successful, kills the Siphon Witches, effectively preventing them from stealing any more of the Light.

Uncovering the Vex
Following the Stranger's coordinates, the Guardian travels to the Ishtar Sink on Venus, where they are ambushed by alien cyborgs known as the Vex, described by Ghost as "war machines". After reactivating an extensive series of sensors established by other Guardians to track these machines, the Guardian meets with the Exo Stranger in the Ishtar Academy. There, she informs them of the Black Garden, the birthplace of the Vex, and a powerful entity responsible for keeping the Traveler in a state of catatonia.

Before the Guardian could ask any more questions however, the Stranger suddenly vanishes following a mysterious conversation with an unknown individual. Ghost suggests they go to the Awoken in order to find the Garden's location, an option he had brought up during the discussion. Wistfully he wonders if they could stay with the Vex, as the idea of traveling far into danger was not something he liked, and the Guardian jokingly calls him "little light" after the Stranger's remark. Ghost firmly objects.

The Awoken
The Guardian travels to the distant Reef and is intercepted by two Awoken Guard Galiots who demand an explanation as to the Guardian's intrusion into Reef space. The Guardian states their mission and the Guardian is escorted to the Vestian Outpost. After gaining an audience with Queen Mara Sov, the Guardian meets with the Prince, Uldren Sov. Sov mockingly reveals he had been the one to let them in, and attempts to deny them an audience with his sister the Queen.

Two Fallen guards armed with spears emerge from behind the Queen's throne, however; alarmed, the Guardian seizes a weapon from one of the Awoken Guards and prepares to shoot just as Uldren puts a knife to the Guardian's throat; Mara's subsequent appearance defuses the hostilities and the prince apologizes. The Guardian reiterates their request for the location of the Black Garden. Despite this, Uldren denigrates them until his sister requests his council. After a moment of conferring, Uldren offers them a deal: they bring the head of a Vex Gate Lord and the Awoken would give them location of the Garden. In spite of the Guardian's skepticism and Ghost's stammering, the two set off for Venus once more, determined to succeed.

Finding a Gate Lord
In order to find a Gate Lord, the Guardian travels to an old research station of the Ishtar Collective, defeating a Cyclops and analyzing its mind core. Armed with vital intel on the nature of the Vex as well as the means with which to summon the Gate Lord, the Guardian sets off. While at the Ishtar Academy, the Guardian kills Graliks, a Baron of House Winter, a High Servitor named Simiks-3, and secures an ancient Golden Age Archive for the Cryptarchs.

During their mission, the Guardian takes a detour to hunt down Draksis, the Kell of House Winter, as reports place him in a nearby group of caves. Battling their way aboard the Ketch, they find and kill the Fallen leader as well as his guards. Back on track with the Fallen threat dealt with momentarily, the Guardian reaches the Endless Steps. After summoning and slaying Zydron, the Guardian returns to the Reef.

A Bargain Made
The Guardian brings the Gate Lord's head before the Queen, to their astonishment. Reafirming their request for the location of the Black Garden a reluctant Uldren cuts out the now dead eye from the Gate Lord and gives the Guardian coordinates for the Garden's location. The Queen then addresses the Guardian directly, telling them they owe her. Courteously, the Guardian thanks her for her help and leaves, politely ignoring Uldren's mocking well-wishes.

Crossing the Exclusion Zone
The Guardian flies to Mars, stronghold of the enigmatic Cabal, and infiltrate a scout bunker. There they learn that the heavyset, militaristic aliens are locked in a massive attrition war with the native Vex with neither side gaining much ground. Venturing into Giants' Pass they break into a local computer and trigger a response from the Cabal; after a brief battle they kill a Bracus named Tho'ourg and retrieve his Access Key. Moving to the Valley of the Kings they spot a mountain Cabal outpost standing guard before a vast Vex Gate seething with dark energies. Using the Access Key, the Guardian has Ghost hack into the Cabal network, learning that the aliens have made significant progress in cracking Vex defenses. The Gate then starts surging with activity and they break off to defeat an onslaught of Vex, with Ghost remarking they would have to fight the Cabal after all.

Journeying through the Scablands, they discover a Vex Spire deep within the Rubicon Wastes. Within the Legion's Keep they encounter an army of Cabal intent on stopping the intruders, their Primus, Sha'aul, leading them. As Ghost repowers the Gate Lord's eye - the Vex Conflux forming - the Guardian obliterates the enemies and kills the Primus without much effort.

Upon a request from Master Rahool they venture to a buried city nearby and flush out the Cabal there. Atop an old Clovis Bray facility inside the Hollows they find the Cabal and Vex battling over a computer terminal. Killing Bracus Tha'aurn they clear out the opposing forces and secure the computer only to find that Rasputin has taken control of the old Martian Warmind's systems and locked it down.

The Black Garden
Somehow aware of the Guardian's effort to breach the Garden, the Vex suddenly surge across Freehold, overwhelming the Cabal and forcing a response from the Guardian as well. Delving into the Tharsis Junction the Guardian destroys several active Transfer Gates, destroying a Vex Minotaur called the Prohibitive Mind in the process.

The Guardian heads for the Vex Gate leading to the Black Garden, entering the Valley of the Kings before fighting off waves of Vex. Finally teleporting through the Gate as it reacts to the charged eye, the Guardian cautiously passes through a graveyard of frozen Vex, their immense age indicated by the plant life growing on them. Some activate and attack the Guardian but are subsequently destroyed.

Battling their way across the Garden, they pass a cliff overlooking the Vex realm, Ghost remarking that "something dark" lay beneath, and eventually come upon a barrier blocking their way. After destroying the Divisive Mind Cyclops protecting it, the Guardian reaches the entrance to the Heart of the Garden. They activate another Spire directly before the Entrance itself. Ghost inputs the charged Gate Lord eye, and the Vex gate opens.

Inside the chamber they encounter a curious sight: dozens of ancient Vex kneeling with their arms apart before a large writhing mass of Dark energy within a large coliseum. Three large statues of Gate Lords ring the worship ceremony. As they look on, the Vex begin to react to their presence sluggishly, as if the arrival of an alien intruder was unfathomable to them. Ghost sarcastically inquires if the Guardian could kill a god, to which the Guardian replies they didn't "have much of a choice". The Heart pulses with energy, animating a nearby statue and commencing the battle.

As each statue is brought to life, one by one—revealed to be the Eschaton Mind, the Imminent Mind, and the Primeval Mind—the Guardian destroys them. With the death of its protectors, the Heart grew visibly weaker; Ghost encourages the Guardian to keep fighting as the Vex bring in tens of reinforcements, until at last the final Mind is destroyed. The Heart contracts upon itself and the coliseum shakes violently as it explodes in a blinding flash. The Heart had been destroyed and, as Ghost said in surprise, they were back on Mars. The Darkness was retreating and the Light, ostensibly captured by the Heart, was returning back to the Traveler.

Summoned back to the City by the Speaker, who then gives a congratulatory speech thanking all of the Guardians for their work, the Guardian responsible wanders into the Hanger where the Exo Stranger stood looking at the Traveler. She remarks that even though it is a time for celebration, the fight was far from finished. Giving the Guardian her Rifle she turned and departed, warping away in a disintegrating cloud of bluish-white energy. The Guardian then repowers their ship and takes off into orbit, preparing for their next mission.

Further Adventures
The Guardian and a fireteam descends into the depths of the Hellmouth, and kills Phogoth, the Untamed before the Hive can unleash it on the City. A fireteam of Guardians descends far below the Ishtar Academy and slays Sekrion, Nexus Mind, dealing a devastating blow to Vex efforts and delaying Venus' transformation into their network. A Guardian fireteam is sent to stop the Fallen House of Winter from restoring the "soul" of Aksor, Archon Priest. Commander Zavala tasks Guardians with taking out Cabal High Command, and sends a fireteam to lead an assault on the Cabal Imperial Land Tank and take out their leader Valus Ta'aurc, breaking the Cabal's grip on the lost city of Freehold. The Cabal also unleash the Psion Flayers to locate one of Rasputin's usurped AI cores buried in the Dust Palace to attempt to break his control over Mars' defenses. In response, a Guardian fireteam is deployed to secure it. The Flayers are defeated, and Rasputin locks down the machine. Using data from a reclaimed Ishtar archive a Raid-team of Guardians follow in Kabr's footsteps and pierce the Vault of Glass. They slay the mighty Templar and its Oracles, avoid the Gorgons, and confront Atheon, Time's Conflux in the Glass Throne. Using the Aegis they defeat the Vex overseer and break the Vex's control over the Vault.

Return of Crota, Son of Oryx
After an unspecified number of years, Eris Morn returns to the Tower, attempting to warn the Vanguard of an impending Hive invasion that will be led by a soon-to-be resurrected Crota. Under Eris' direction and guidance, the Guardian travels to the Cosmodrome and hunts down Sardon, Fist of Crota, slaying the Hive general within the waterlogged caves of the Grottos. Traveling to the Moon, the Guardian successfully foils a Hive ritual intended to resurrect Crota, thus stopping the Hive invasion. However learning that Crota's soul would have survived their initial assault, the Guardian, alongside five others, infiltrates the Hellmouth and finds a way to enter Crota's realm - the Oversoul Throne - where he is slain permanently.

Aiding Rasputin
Subsequently, the Hive lay siege to one of Rasputin's bunkers in an attempt to corrupt him. However after receiving a high-gain transmission from Rasputin requesting aid, the Guardian repels the incursion successfully and secures the old Warmind within its vault once more. The Guardian also leads a fireteam on a strike mission to track down and kill Crota's last remaining general, Omnigul, effectively breaking the Hive's hold on the Cosmodrome and ending the possibility of an invasion.

Foiling the Vex
Meanwhile deep within the crust of Mars, The Undying Mind attempts to repair the schism torn by the Heart's destruction. Upon learning this, the Guardian ventures to a previously unexplored part of the Black Garden and destroys it.

Summoning the Guardians
At some point in the Reef, Skolas leads a Fallen uprising, slaughtering hundreds of Awoken and wresting control of House Winter. He declares himself the legendary Kell of Kells in the hopes of uniting the previously disparate Fallen Houses. Following the loss of numerous Awoken lives, Mara Sov declares the Reef open to the Guardian's who will exact her vengeance.

Defeating the Outlaws
Working with Petra Venj, the Guardian begins systematically tracking down and dispatching key Fallen threats. Among the first of their targets is Taniks, the Scarred, and Skoriks, Archon-Slayer.

Trouble on Earth
As Skolas vies for control over the various houses, he sends his elite assassin's to wreck havoc on Earth. The Guardian, who is tipped off by Variks, the Loyal, is sent back to Earth to stop Skolas' Silent Fang from usurping the House of Devils as well as foiling the Wolves' attempt to seize control of the House of Kings.

Hunting Skolas
Back on Venus, the Guardian follows Skolas assaults on Vex strongholds across the Ishtar Sink all the way to the Vault of Glass where he finally attempts to augment his army with its mysterious technology. As Skolas pulls the House of Wolves through time in a last effort to unite the Fallen, he is swiftly defeated atop the Citadel and sent to face the Queen.

The Taken King
Petra Venj detects the Hive Dreadnaught orbiting the rings of Saturn and orders all Reef assets to mobilize, following a conversation between Queen Mara Sov and Eris Morn and presumably Osiris on Oryx's imminent arrival.

The Awoken space fleet engages the Dreadnaught and a small fleet of Hive warships escorted by thousands of Tombships; Uldren Sov leads his fighter wings to scatter the Hive fleet whilst from behind the Queen and her Techeun Coven summon the Harbingers, as part of a predetermined plan. The Harbingers destroy much of Oryx's fleet, ripping through enemy vessels with ease, but leave no marks upon the Dreadnaught itself. Oryx ends the battle by firing his ship's main cannon, destroying both his and the Queen's fleets in a single Pyrrhic stroke and force him to forestal his advance.[268] The Queen and major parts of Reef leadership, including Paladin Abra Zire, and Techeun Shuro, are considered missing in action.

Primus Ta'aun suspends all Cabal mining operations and recon on Phobos pending investigation of a trans-Jovian threat, while mysterious anomalies are reported across the Skyburners' Keep.

The Vanguard intercepts a distress signal on all channels, broadcasting from the Skyburners fortress of Fleetbase Korus on Phobos. The Guardian is dispatched in order to investigate, but upon their arrival they find the Skyburners have been slaughtered. Oryx reveals himself to the Guardian, willing into existence the first wave of his army of corrupted Cabal and Hive called the Taken, led by Syrok, Word of Oryx. The Vanguard scrubs the mission and orders the Guardian to return. Fighting through hordes of Taken the Guardian finally reaches the transmat zone where their ship is waiting, and escapes.

The Vanguard discusses the arrival of Oryx's Dreadnaught over a hologram Ghost collected, analysing its weapon to find a way to slip past while reflecting upon Mara Sov's sacrifice. Eris Morn interrupts them, proclaiming that her “stone” has spoken for the first time since Crota's defeat and has told her Oryx was coming to finish what his son started. Cayde-6 leaves the discussion to “see about a ship”.

Realizing the Taken to be too deadly a threat to take lightly, the Vanguard send Guardians to rediscover lost powers of their forebearers. Hunters learn to harness the Void and become Nightstalkers, Warlocks travel to Mars and mediate upon the Arc to become Stormcallers, and Titans explore Mercury in search of the mercenary Sunbreakers only to find they were obliterated by the Vex, before reigniting the forge with the help of the Sunbreakers' Third Empyreal Magistrate Ouros.

Cayde-6 directs the Guardian to one of the dead colony ships in Old Russia, where he had previously hidden a modified stealth drive capable of getting the Guardian past the superweapon and into the Dreadnaught to face Oryx. Upon touching down in The Blast, just outside of the Fallen House of Devils' lair, the Guardian discovers that the Taken have already reached Earth and have begun overwhelming the Fallen. After defeating an Echo of Oryx, and retrieving the stealth drive, the Guardian returns to the Tower.

In the Hangar Cayde convinces Amanda Holliday to install the stealth drive on Eris' ship and arrange a “test flight” for the Guardian to infiltrate the Dreadnaught in order to establish a beachhead after disabling its super weapon.

With the stealth drive equipped, the Guardian travels to Saturn and reaches the Dreadnaught. Just as the drive malfunctions, causing the Dreadnaught to destroy Eris' ship, the Guardian is transmatted onto the Dreadnaught by their Ghost. They then proceeds to disable the superweapon and establish a transmat zone for reinforcements before returning to the Tower. Cayde leaves to speak with Eris about the loss of her ship.

The Cabal deploy their reserve force, the Skyburners, in a direct attack on Dreadnaught. After the Skyburners' Primus is Taken however, their offensive crumbles. A lone unit aboard the Cabal ship, Dantalion Exodus VI, sends a distress signal to the head of the Empire, only to be wiped out by Guardians. Nevertheless their message is believed to have reached its intended target.

The Guardian breaks into the crashed Cabal gunship, Dantalion Exodus VI, and steals information that the Cabal have secured on Oryx. The Guardian fights their way to a portal called the Rupture, and after defeating an Echo of Oryx discovers they must become Ascendant in order to enter.

The Guardian also travels back to the Moon once more, where they obtain a shard of the Hive crystal used to hold Crota's soul and defeated its Gravekeeper, but are discovered by Oryx, who sends his Taken after them. While escaping the Guardian stumbles upon an open entrance to Wolfship Kaliks-Syn and rids the ship of Taken. The Guardian then goes to collect more stealth technology from Rasputin in order to infiltrate Crota's funeral. Along the way the Guardian eliminates a Taken Centurion and collects a mysterious item.

Guardians answer Rasputin's call for aid in fending off a Fallen attack led by S.A.B.E.R.-2, a giant super-powered Shank, as the Devils attempt to gain control of the warsat network.

The Guardian enters Crota's netherworld, and sneaks their way to his tomb and acquires enough of his essence to become Ascendant. Crota's sisters lead a procession of Deathsingers in the dirge, along with a full contingent of guards, but the Guardian is successful in their mission. They are discovered by Oryx however, and he sends his Taken—Ta'aun and Baxx among them—to kill the Guardian. Eris intervenes,and transports the Guardian to safety. Armed with Crota's soul, the Guardian returns to the Dreadnaught and using the Essence, is able to pass through the Rupture and confronts the Taken King before subsequently destroying his physical form, forcing his soul to retreat to his Throne World. Eris meanwhile takes apart Willbreaker and retrieves its shard.

In the wake of the Dreadnaught campaign, Commander Zavala tasks Cayde-6 with establishing patrol beacons across the Dreadnaught.

Dead Orbit detects the Skyburner's transmission to the stars and sends Guardians to put an end to it. During the op, Vro'ourn, Fist of Oryx is killed.

Alak-Hul, the Darkblade is found aboard Oryx's Dreadnaught and is slain in his Sunless Cell by a Guardian fireteam tasked by Eris Morn to eliminate a contender for the Osmium Throne.

Guardians prevent a Cabal assault team led by Valus Tlu'urn and Valus Mau'ual, from blowing up the Dreadnaught's core, saving the entire system from certain doom.

On Venus, Guardians destroy an Echo of Oryx and return to the emptied Vault of Glass hoping to rescue Praedyth from his timeless prison, but discover that a Vex Hydra tasked by Oryx to co-opt the Nexus' power, is blighting and corrupting the Vex network. Luckily for the Vex, Morphon, Blighted Mind is destroyed by Guardians and Praedyth is freed from their control, with his centuries-old remains being found in a small room within the deepest parts of the Vault.

A fireteam led by the Guardian, infiltrates Oryx Ascendant Realm, kills his Warpriest, the Ogre Golgoroth, and his daughters the Deathsinger twins, before finally defeating the Taken King himself. Eris tasks one of the Guardians with collecting certain items from the Hive gods, and rewards them with a Hive weapon crafted from Oryx's heart, which unknowingly allowed Oryx to live on.

The Guardians stop Theosyion, the Restorative Mind from bringing back Sekrion, Nexus Mind from the past and completing its transformation of Venus.

Guardians destroy a Taken infestation blighting the House of Winter's Lair while searching for a missing Archon prisoner, and kill Nixis, Hunger of Oryx.

The Guardians eliminate two more Taken Echoes on both Earth and Mars.

The House of Wolves regroups on Mars and rebuilds their previous Prime Servitor, Orbiks Prime. Under Orbiks' direction, the Wolves attempt to establish a base in the Blind Legion's former keep, coming into conflict with local Cabal forces. The Guardian tracks down Orbiks Prime and eliminates it, scattering the House of Wolves once more.

A Taken Warbeast, Malok, Pride of Oryx, attempts to rally the remaining Taken from the Hellmouth. Malok is discovered however and a strike team eliminates him in a last stand at the Shrine of Oryx.

Rise of Iron
The Transmission Incident—field reports are made from Guardians whose armor have become infested with "tech mites", which manifest as swarms of colorful specks that swirl around their heads. Unable to contain the mites' spread among the Guardians, the Owl Sector and Vanguard instead implemented a quarantine on the Last City in order to prevent non-Guardians' exposure.

Bypass Authority Berriole travels to the Dust Palace to learn the origin of the tech mites. Following a set of tracks to a lab, she finds various locked storage cabinets had been cut or blasted open. Further investigation yields the mites were linked to a Clovis Bray project overseen by a Dr. Zarin Shirazi who worked under Dr. Willa Bray and that the tech mites were actually a nanomachine therapy to improve subjects' intelligence and strength for the Golden Age's colonization effort. After sealing Shirazi's lab, however, Berriole becomes aware that the tracks which led to the lab appeared to have been made by Fallen, implying that a group of Fallen (possibly the Splicers) were responsible for the incident. Eventually, a third of all Guardians become affected by at least one variety of tech mite, prompting the Vanguard to further tighten the City's quarantine.

The Owl Sector's Liaison to the Vanguard, Shun Li, accidentally becomes exposed to a sample of tech mites and loses consciousness soon after, forcing his fellow operative Ramos to take on the duties of Acting Liaison. Fortunately, the countermeasure to the tech mites is discovered among Shirazi's records, and the combined efforts of the Owl Sector's research corps, the Hidden, and the Techeuns succeed in replicating it. Shun is revived, and the cure administered to the Guardians, much to their dismay. With the crisis ended, the Owl Sector is returned to standby status.

The Fallen House of Devils begins digging into old Golden Age research labs all over the system, eventually returning to the Cosmodrome while shifting massive amounts of resources to a previously dark region of Old Russia. Concerned the SIVA Plague may have been discovered by the House of Devils, and unleashed upon the Cosmodrome, Lord Saladin personally leads the counterattack to contain the threat.

A Fallen force captures Felwinter Peak. Unable to get there in time, Lord Saladin orders the Guardian to secure the observatory at the top before it is too late. After defending the mountaintop from several waves of Fallen forces, the Guardian reaches the Iron Temple before defeating Sepiks Perfected in the courtyard, keeping the Fallen from the temple long enough for Saladin to arrive with reinforcements, but Sepiks escapes.

Lord Saladin then sends the Guardian to pursue Sepiks Perfected into a transformed Cosmodrome in order to learn the extent of the SIVA outbreak. In the Cosmodrome, the Guardian encounters the Hive who are being driven into the open somehow. The Guardian then seeks out a monitoring station responsible for keeping the sensor grid online and retrieves vital sensor logs that provide valuable insight into the Fallen activity.

Pushing further into the Cosmodrome, the Guardian discovers that the Fallen have taken control of several Golden Age gun positions near the Triglav Bunker. Upon reaching the Bunker, the Guardian destroys two SIVA enhanced shield generators before disabling the enemy guns.

A fireteam of Guardians tracks down Sepiks Perfected again, and kill both it and Dresiks, Splicer Baron in the Devils' Lair. A trio of augmented Captains—the Shock Captain; the Splicer Scorch Captain; and the Null Captain—are methodically eliminated.

Having observed that the Hive have begun hitting the Splicers near a beached Tanker, Shiro tasks the Guardian with discovering why they are at each other's throats. The Guardian arrives at the Giant's Husk expecting to encounter hostilities, but finds the Hive engaged in all out war. After the Guardian recovers a coded relay from a defeated Devil Splicer, Shiro deduces that the Hive may be attempting to reclaim something stolen and tasks the Guardian with exploring the Overpass for further clues. Working off of the pointers obtained from their exploration, the Guardian takes off for the Archon's keep in search of Hive or Fallen activity. At the keep, the Guardian discovers the Fallen Splicers are experimenting with the Hive, prompting them to seek out the Splicer's High Priest in order to end his madness.

Kovik, Splicer Priest invades a Hive nest located within Bunker Triglav. After a team of Guardians destroy a network of SIVA Nodes, which are augmenting the Silos' old defense protocols and keeping the facility sealed tight, they descend into the Hive Nest and kill Kovik, as well as a captive Hive Ogre the Fallen Priest had infused with SIVA.

Back at the Iron Temple, Lord Saladin meets with the Guardian and tells them the story of the Iron Lords, and how they attempted to co-opt SIVA against all of Rasputin's attempts to stop them (including eliminating all but nine of the Iron Lords in the process). In the end, revealing how SIVA ultimately corrupted many of the Iron Lords by turning their weapons and armor against them, forcing Jolder to seal herself and all of the Iron Lords except for Saladin within the Bunker rather than let SIVA escape. Saladin then realizes the Fallen have not yet mastered SIVA, and sends the Guardian to meet with Tyra, a Cryptarch well versed in the origins of SIVA, and also one who might know the source of the Fallen's discoveries.

The Guardian then travels to an old Clovis Bray research lab following a hunch from Timur, who believes the answer to the Fallen's weakness may lie with the ancient SIVA prototypes. After clearing the facility of the Cabal, the Guardian locates an old archive that reveals information on several types of nanotech designed for differing purposes. The Guardian is then attacked by a Cabal force which they promptly eliminate before returning to the Iron temple.

Communing with the Guardian, Lord Saladin informs them that Shiro-4 has analyzed the Clovis Bray data and found a way to temporarily disrupt the Splicers' control over it. The Guardian is then tasked to descend into the SIVA replication complex in order to cut its ability to replicate itself. On the way, they reverse the power cells in the SIVA reactor, temporarily cutting off the Splicer's SIVA supply. Infiltrating the Archon's Keep, the Guardian descends deeper into the facility and after confronting the Remnant of Felwinter, destroys the SIVA Replicator via a self destruct mechanism.

Returning to the Iron Temple once more, the Guardian returns Jolder's broken helmet to Lord Saladin who thanks the Guardian and subsequently gifts them a Sword, pronouncing the Guardian as the next generation of Iron Lord.

A Guardian fireteam descends into the Hellmouth to stop the Devil Splicers from stealing unborn Hive Ogres for their crazed rituals, and eliminate them, killing the Hive Abomination the Devils nearly took.

Guardians infiltrate Foundry 113 and defeat the Splicers' surviving duumvirate of Aksis and his second-in-command Vosik inside their Perfection Complex. With Aksis and his followers gone, the Devil Splicers are neutralized.

Omnigul returns and the Vanguard tasks the Guardian to go and eliminate her once and for all.

Brokering an alliance with Taniks' crew the Splicers resurrect Taniks the Scarred using SIVA, augmenting him into Taniks Perfected. Shortly after, a team of Guardians eliminate him.

The Vex finally discover how to manifest their ontological power outside of the Vault and augment Sekrion with it, but are unable to keep the Taken from corrupting the Mind, transforming it into Sekrion, Subverted Mind. A team of Guardians, with the aid of the Aegis, destroy both it and the Taken, and any lingering Vex.

Onset of the Red War
Shortly before the beginning of the Red War, the Guardian was tasked with a reconnaissance mission aboard a Hawk to investigate debris found at Mount Esja on Earth. They discovered that the debris originated from the Reef, prompting Ghost to suggest trying to make contact with allies in the Reef. They do so without success, while attracting starved and desperate House of Winter remnants that were observing the site.

Met with radio silence while returning to the Last City, they quickly discovered that the City had been invaded by the Cabal, and aided in defending the Tower against the Red Legion. The Guardian attempted to disorganize the enemy by disabling the Cabal command ship and though they succeeded in infiltrating the ship and in destroying the Shield generators, no reinforcements could make it, and they were confronted by Dominus Ghaul himself. There the Cabal Emperor activated the Light-restraining device upon the Traveler, encasing it in a force field. This act cut the Guardians off from the Traveler's Light, effectively crippling them. Ghaul savagely beat the weakened Guardian, even sending them off of his command ship along with their Ghost, plummeting to the devastated city below. Barely surviving the fall, the Guardian linked up with others, and with little choice, they evacuated the Last City.

Despite Ghaul's success in attacking the City, the Guardian refused to give up the fight, and after setting up a camp in the European Dead Zone, they sought out to gain new powers and began developing a counterattack against the Red Legion.

The Road to Titan
After supporting Hawthorne and Devrim Kay establishing a support beacon to draw people to the Farm, the Guardian received a distress signal from Zavala which told him to head to Titan where he was making a resistance with Deputy Chief Sloane and Amanda Holliday. The Guardian and Ghost headed there and found that the Hive were there taking control of the pipes and the planet itself. The Guardian and Ghost now had to reactivate the stations to fortify themselves against the Hive. After rebooting the power, the Guardian and Ghost then delve deep into the New Pacific Arcology after detecting an AI. After they escaped, the Guardian, Sloane, and Zavala eventually discover, through Cabal transmitions, that the sun-destroying Almighty is in position over Sol. After learning of this, Zavala orders the Guardian to locate the other members of the Vanguard so that they may attempt to destroy the ship.

Pursuit on Nessus
The Guardian and Ghost go to Nessus after picking up a signal from Cayde there. After Ghost questions why Cayde went to Nessus in the first place, it is soon discovered that Nessus has been almost completely consumed by the Vex. After tracking the source of the transmition, they soon discover Failsafe was broadcasting the signal for Cayde after he was caught by the Vex. They chased after Cayde's teleporting prison and slew a Hydra. They are then told by Cayde to shut down the teleporter to let Cayde free. After doing so, they hurry back to the Exodus Black to fend off the Fallen chasing Cayde. After slaying Jaliks, the Captain responsible for the attack, they are welcomed to the Exodus Black and are made Captain of the crashed ship by Failsafe. Through some convincing, Cayde turned back from his original plan, which was to kill Ghaul which would've inevitably caused the Almighty to fire, and discover that Ikora was meditating on Io.

Pilgrimage to Io
After finding Ikora, they learn of a nearby Red Legion base. While making their way over, they see a beam of the Traveler's light beaming over a convoy of Cabal ships. After eliminating what's left of the Cabal in the encampment, they delve deeper into the base and find mining equipment and drills. Pushing through the desolate base, they discover the Taken are trying to sap the light. After killing off a major Taken Wizard, Ikora, through some connections to the Taken, discovers that Ghaul is attempting to steal the light. As the Guardian and Ghost leave the base, they recieve a distress signal from Asher Mir that the Taken's sapping operation is going to cause the moon to implode if not intervened. After killing the Wizards responsible and killing a Taken Centurion within the portal, they are then summoned by Asher to be an assistant and help with his works. After the talk, they then head for a Warmind vault that was breached by a Cabal drill. After killing the Taken attempting to halt the Guardian and Ghost, Asher discovers that the Almighty is tithed to the Sun, and if destroyed, takes the Sun with it. Ikora, and the Guardian then head back to the Farm to finally reunite the Vanguard.

Payback
Once more united, the Vanguard plans their attack. They send the Guardian and Ghost to hunt Thumos, the Unbroken. With the help of a Drake Tank, they push through a web-work of Cabal tunnels and ground the carrier. They then march into the carrier and eventually kill Thumos and took his keys to his ship. They then reach the ship, killing the Cabal and invading Fallen whom were in their way and fly off to the Almighty. Once aboard the great ship, they push through the machinery of the ship and debris which was once apart of Mercury. After walking through the sun's heat, they make their way to the weapon and overheat it, disabling the ship and it's weapon. The Guardian and Ghost join the battle of the Last City and make their way to Ghaul. After meeting up with the Vanguard, they discover that everyone else is injured, and must face Ghaul themselves. Using the teleporter Cayde nabbed off Nessus, the Guardian and Ghost are teleported to Ghaul's command ship. They meet up with Ghaul, who has induced himself with corrupt, synthetic light, and face off with him. After Ghaul is killed by the Guardian, Ghaul attempts to use Radiance, and is turned into an etheral figure thanks to the corrupt light, and declared himself immortal as he speaks to the Traveler. In doing so, he awakens the Traveler, which breaks the cage and slays Ghaul. The Guardian is then congratulated on their success for killing Ghaul, awaking the Traveler, and saving Sol from the Red Legion.

European Dead Zone
The Guardian helped to push back the Fallen, weaken the Cabal, reboot the Patrol network and discovered more lost powers in the Black Forest. Later, Bracus Zahn, a Cabal gunrunner, was bringing supplies to the Red Legion and has taken command of the Orobas Vectura. The Guardian and their fireteam tracked down Zahn and killed him. Meanwhile, the Taken attempted to corrupt the water supply at a reservoir on the other side of town. The Guardian put an end to the operation and discover that the commander was once a member of the Red Legion. As the Guardian was patrolling the EDZ, they get a request from Devrim to look for "glowing" Fallen. They soon discover the Fallen were augmenting their Ether supplies with Cabal technology. The Guardian and Ghost destroy the Ether and kill the Archon and Servitor responsible for the attempted ascendance.

Titan
The Guardian reclaimed supplies taken by the Fallen and ended Hive rituals which could've ended the operation on Titan definitively. The Guardian is then dispatched to the Arcology to search for Guardians who have gone silent. They discover that the Hive were attempting to use Void Light to summon a powerful Shrieker. With the help of a Guardian's sacrifice, the Guardian and their team destroys the Shrieker, thus ending the ritual and avenging the lost. Later, Sloane dispatches the Guardian to scare off a Captain and his crew in the command center. They then learn of a Methane Reactor within the Arcology. So the Guardian and Ghost go off to search for the Reactor before the Captain can claim it. They track down the reactor before the Arcology's security systems detained them. Now in a race with the Captain, they seek to find the Reactor before the Captain can. They discover that the Captain was attempting to use the Reactor to create Ether with the help of a Servitor. They kill the Servitor and, depending on the Guardian's actions, spared the Captain or killed him, and claimed the Reactor for the Rig.

Nessus
The Guardian retrieved data on the Vex, collected info on the returned Cabal Emperor, and search for leads on Failsafe's missing crew across the Machine World. Eventually, the Fallen staged a massive raid, lead by Thaviks, the Depraved, on the Exodus Black. The Guardian lead a fireteam to clear out the fallen and assassinate Thaviks before he and his crew could do any more damage to Failsafe's systems. The Guardian also lead a fireteam charged with investigating geological disturbances caused by a Cabal mining operation, where they discover the Cabal were trying to abduct Protheon, Modular Mind in order to reverse-engineer it's weaponry. As a result of this revelation, the Fireteam then moved in on the Modular Mind and destroyed it. Later on, Failsafe contacted the Guardian, informing them about her suspicions that Captain Masoud Jacobson was still alive on Nessus. The Guardian located four dead crewmen and reviewed their audio logs, hoping to find traces of the Captain. Eventually, they came across a strange looking Harpy which lead them deep into Nessus. After completing the Vex tests and defeating a Vex Mind, the Harpy lead them to Captain Jacobson's corpse and played his final audiolog, which concerned him lamenting over everything that had happened on Nessus. The Guardian returned to Failsafe to deliver the news.

Io
The Guardian routed Taken forces, delayed the Vex conversion of Io, and investigated mysterious Warmind broadcasts. The Guardian is then dispatched along with a fireteam into the Pyramidion to defeat Brakion, Genesis Mind, in hopes of eventually stopping the conversion of Io. The Fireteam succeeded where Asher and his team could not, breaching the Vex Structure and destroying Brakion. Later on, The Guardian responded to Hidden reports of Taken acting strangely with the Vex. The Guardian investigated, learning that the Taken were actually taking the Vex and turning them into mindless drones, against Asher Mir's initial presumptions that taking the Vex was impossible. The Guardian re-entered the Pyramidion and defeated the Taken Knight in charge of the operation, bringing an end to the Taken plot, though a few Taken Vex managed to get away. Regardless, the Guardian was successful, and Asher Mir congratulated the Guardian for their actions.

The Leviathan
Following the end of Ghaul, the Vanguard detected a massive Cabal Starship that wasn't bearing Red Legion colors entering the Solar System. The Guardian investigated the Red Legion defectors planetside, who were doing the bidding of this vessel's commander, later revealed to be Emperor Calus himself. They also discovered that the defectors were gathering geological data on Nessus with the intent of converting the soil of the planet into Royal Wine. Later on, the Leviathan itself arrived and began its absorption of Nessus. The Guardian themselves were invited by Calus to board his ship for killing Ghaul. The Guardian and five others accepted the challenge and embarked on the Leviathan. The Fireteam fought through the ship's palace, crushing the Loyalists and eventually reaching the Throne room. Seemingly facing off against the exiled Cabal Emperor, the Guardians witness his strange powers and after dealing critical damage, they find that the Calus they are facing is actually a robotic Automaton. Regardless, the Guardians succeed in destroying the robot, where the real Cabal Emperor rewarded the Guardians for completing his challenge, offering them a place by his side if they wish.

Curse of Osiris
Osiris and his Ghost, Sagira, are out in a simulation of the Vault of Glass looking for answers to the future. Osiris sees a future possibility that terrifies him, and quickly closes the portal, but not before the Vex are snapped out of stillness and attack Osiris and his Ghost. During the attack, they are ambushed by Panoptes, the mind responsible for creating the plan for the dark future. Realizing he has to stop the Vex now before it is too late, Osiris throws Sagira through a portal back to present day Mercury, while Osiris attempts to fend off Panoptes.

Search For Osiris
Sagira was eventually recovered by the Hidden on Mercury and brought back to the Tower. Ikora summons the Guardian, sending them to Mercury to investigate. The Guardian arrived at Mercury, coming in contact with Brother Vance and fighting through Vex in the Fields of Glass. However, the Guardian was unable to enter the Infinite Forest, and was greeted by swarms of Descendant Vex. The Guardian eventually cleared the area of Vex, lifting the lockdown on the Lighthouse, and spoke with Brother Vance. Vance was rather pleased that the Guardian had brought Sagira and believed that the ghost could be revived with the help of a sect of Cultists in the EDZ.

Following Vance's coordinates, the Guardian returned to the EDZ, hijacking a Heavy Pike to reach the radio tower where the cultists had set up their temple. Unfortunately, they arrived too late, as a Fallen Crew had already raided the temple and killed the cultists inside. Thankfully, the Guardian was able to defeat the Fallen before they could dismantle any machinery that could be vital to reviving Sagira. However, when Sagira was put into the machine, she dematerialized and her spirit took over the shell of the Guardian's Ghost. Despite awakening bewildered to her current situation, Sagira insisted that she and the Guardian return to Mercury to help Osiris.

The Hunt for Panoptes
The Guardian and Sagira ventured back to Mercury, this time able to successfully enter the Infinite Forrest, where they encountered numerous of Osiris's reflections. Venturing through the infinite parallels of the forest, the Guardian arrived as a simulation of Mercury in the past, mere minutes before the Vex Lighthouses arrived to convert the planet. The Guardian continued to follow the word of the reflections, which eventually lead them into a simulation of the Lighthouse in the Dark Future, where the sun was now a shadowy purple and the room was littered with the bodies of cultists, including Brother Vance. Osiris explained that all timelines lead to this simulation, a future without Light or Dark, only the Vex. However, Panoptes arrived in the simulation with a swarm of Harpies. Osiris opens a portal, allowing the Guardian and Sagira to barely escape the Infinite Mind.

Realizing that they could never find Panoptes on their own, Ikora suggests they locate a map in the Pyramidion on Io. The Guardian returns to the moon of Jupiter, entering the Vex construct for a third time. Fighting their way through, the Guardian brought Sagira to a conflux, where she was able to locate a map in a node of the Infinite Forest known as the Tree of Probabilities. The Guardian set foot on Mercury once more and re-entered the Infinite Forrest, which lead them to a simulation of the Red Legion invasion of Mercury, just as the Almighty was consuming the planet. Despite the Vex attempting to use the Cabal to destroy the Tree, the Guardian was able to get there first and located a map. Requiring more processing power, the Guardian flew to Nessus, where they were able to use Vex Minds to assist. However, Sagira was still unable to locate Panoptes, due to the processor shorting out. All was not lost, however, as Ikora suggested they return to the past to run time forward and locate Panoptes.

The Guardian returned to the Infinite Forrest, locating a past simulation of Mercury where the Vex had just begun their conversion process. The Guardian fights their way to a Lighthouse and encounters Dendron, Root Mind, the Vex Mind responsible for transforming Mercury. Through defeating Dendron, the Guardian reached the very peak of the spire, where Sagira was able to locate Panoptes in the Infinite Forrest, informing the Guardian and a Reflection of Osiris, who relayed the information to the real Osiris. However, Panoptes once again was able to located the Guardian, kidnapping Sagira and warping the Young Wolf out of the Infinite Forrest. The Guardian found themselves, and their ghost back in possession of his shell, just outside of the Gateway to the forest, where they were unable to re-enter without Sagira. The Guardian returned to Ikora, who was not willing to let Panoptes win just yet.

The Guardian and Ikora ventured back to Mercury, where Ikora forced open the gateway and allowed the Guardian inside. The Guardian made their way to Panoptes coordinates, with the Vex Mind itself none too pleased with the Guardian's intrusion. It attempted numerous times to erase the Guardian from existence, however, Osiris intervened with his reflections, giving the Guardian the opportunity to weaken Panoptes. Despite the Infinite Mind's numerous attempts to erase and destroy the Guardian with simulated enemies, the Guardian and Osiris were able to corner Panoptes and destroy him, freeing Sagira and preventing a Dark Future from occurring.

The Guardian, Osiris, and their ghosts exited the Infinite Forest, where they reunited with Ikora just outside. Ikora offered to invite Osiris back to the tower, but the ex-Vanguard declined, stating that he was needed in the Forest. After bidding farewell, Osiris and Sagira departed back into the Forest, with the latter claiming they had infinite realities to explore, and all the time in the world to do so.

Further Adventures
Shortly after the death of Panoptes, the Vex began a simulation on a Fallen raid in hopes to understand Fallen tactics, where the Guardian would speed past the simulated defenses and kill the Captain, the node of the simulation. After that, a Cabal Valus simulacrum was created by the Vex to transport a Vex phage through the Infinite Forest, where it would be discovered by Osiris and neutralized by the Guardian. The Vex then began a simulation on the Hive, where they attempt to uncover their tactics and power. Once again, the simulation would be corrupted by the Guardian's interference. The Guardian would be called back to Mercury, however, after they received word that the Valus Thuun simulation had reset, resulting in the resurrection of the formerly deposed Valus. Once again, alongside a Fireteam, they would head back to the Atlas Grove to kill the Valus once again. After recreating Dendron in order to serve as a puppet Mind, Osiris would ask for the help of the Guardian to destroy it after it broke free from Osiris and began to root itself as the head of the Infinite Forest, where it would be killed by the Guardian and their Fireteam.

Using The Infinite Forge, they uncover a strange signal being broadcast from within the Infinite Forest. After defeating both Precursor and Descendant Vex pulled through strange, confluxes, they discover the confluxes were also surging with light. After pinpointing the source, they uncover the location of a long lost Guardian, Saint-14, who came there in search for Osiris after his banishment. After killing the defending Descendants, they discover that Saint-14 was killed and "buried" by the Vex, where they allow Osiris to put the Titan to rest and claimed his mighty shotgun, the Perfect Paradox.

After resolving the crisis on Mercury, the guardian received a call from Calus. During the Leviathan's consuming of Nessus, a massive Axis mind by the name of Argos, Planetary Core was sucked into the Leviathan, with its shields interfering with the ship's absorption of the planetoid. Calus called the Guardian back to the Leviathan to destroy Argos. The Guardian assembled a 6-man fireteam to venture deep into the vessel and destroy the fearsome Vex Mind. Though they were able to destroy Argos, doing so allowed the Leviathan to begin to pull the Guardians into its fiery inferno, though Calus saved the Fireteam by teleporting them to his throne room, where he rewarded his champions.

Warmind
After responding to a mysterious distress call on an official Vanguard channel, The Guardian heads to Hellas Basin on Mars to help this guardian, who turns out to be none other than Anastasia Bray of Twilight Gap glory. After fighting through the Frozen Hive and reactivating the BrayTech Futurescape Ana sends the guardian to save Rasputin's core from the Hive invasion. Upon arrival, Rasputin presents the Guardian with the Valkyrie javelin to help deal with the Hive that have swarmed outside his core chamber.

When the guardian finally gains entry to the core, it is revealed that a rather angry Zavala has beaten them there, which doesn't please Ana. A short argument ensues which ends in Zavala revealing the real reason he has arrived. Rasputin wasn't the only thing to awaken on Mars, but the Hive's worm god Xol, Will of the Thousands. The Guardian then goes to retrieve a shard of the Traveler from the EDZ, but finds it shielded by a Taken barrier. Ana responds to this by asking Rasputin to crash a Warsat into the shard in order to break the shield, which he does.

The Guardian returns to Hellas Basin and uses the shard to summon Xol, but instead provokes Nokris, his herald, who they proceed to kill. After this, they go into Rasputin's inner workings at Alton Dynamo to find a way to overcharge the Valkyrie and kill Xol, as he has started an attack on Rasputin's neural network. If he succeeds, Rasputin will be gone forever, taking the Valkyrie with him and leaving Xol with no way to even damage him.

The Guardian runs to Rasputin's aid, but is cut off by Xol and trapped on a service platform. With the help on Ana Bray and the newly overcharged Valkyrie, the Guardian is able to vanquish him and save Rasputin. After this, Rasputin grants Ana, Zavala, and The Guardian an audience with him, where he tells them that he will not serve any of them, and will protect humanity on his own terms, launching a new Warsat network to prove his point. Zavala returns to the Tower and Ana decides to stay on Mars as Rasputin's ambassador. The Guardian then proceeds to partially exterminate the Hive through Rasputin's Escalation Protocol, as well as fighting the Red Legion, who are on Mars to scavenge what they can during their retreat from Sol.

Further Adventures
After their landing on Mars, Ana Bray asks the Guardian to investigate an order that came through Cabal command. After decyphering the orders, they uncover a group of Psions were seeking to become Flayers through the use of Rasputin and his technology. After witnessing one of these Psions evolve firsthand, the Guardian, kills the group before they could unleash their new Psionic powers.

Soon later, Ana Bray detected new technology being used by the Hive. After the Guardian was asked to investigate, they discover the Hive are engaging in a new, strange ritual. While dismantling the strange ritual, it is discovered that the ritual was empowering Savathûn so that she could emerge from the Deep. The Guardian destroyed the ritual, as well as the Ogre defending it.

After returning back to Mars, Zavala asks the Guardian to investigate reports of a Cabal raid on the BrayTech Facility. After intercepting the raid, the Guardian enacts a plan to strike back at the raiders by drawing out their commander. After setting up an ambush and killing most of the Cabal strike team, the commander emerged to strike back at the Guardian, thus resulting in the Val's death.

Shortly after the death of Xol, the Guardian is asked to destroy the Hephaestus terminals which house blueprints to dangerous weapons. However, Ana Bray asks them to find the nexus of the Hephaestus terminals and salvage the data rather than destroy it. After pushing through ambitious Cabal raiders and fending off Hive troops, the Guardian retrieves the data before it could fall into the wrong hands.

Later, the Guardian uncovers an IKELOS core after following a strange signal Ana Bray uncovered. Following Ana Bray's wishes, they delve into the Alton Dynamo to open it, while uncovering a Cabal incursion into the facility. After gathering the data keys required to unlock it and overturning the raid, they discover it's actually a blueprint Rasputin could use to make a weapon. After connecting to the Warmind's network, they head to his core, only to stumble upon a Cabal attack on Rasputin. They stem the tide of the attack and ground the belligerent Threshers and head inside, crafting their first IKELOS thanks to the Warmind core.

Meanwhile, on Nessus, the Guardian joins a strike team to uncover the Vex' Insight Terminus and uncover the source of the heavy activity. Heading to the entrance, they instead discover a Cabal incursion headed by the Psion commander, Kargen. With new objectives in mind, the Fireteam presses deeper into the facility in order to prevent Kargen from interfacing with the Insight Terminus. After bypassing his Cabal guards and Vex technology, the Fireteam successfully confirms the Technocrat's death and pulled information from the terminus, either hearing of it's connection to Sundaresh or Otzot.

Following Xol's death, Calus contacted the Guardian once more, revealing that Val Ca'uor, self-proclaimed successor of Ghaul, has invaded the Leviathan with remnants of the Red Legion in an attempt to finally bring an end to the Emperor. The Guardian assembled a raid team and returned to the Leviathan, clearing out the Red Legion, destroying their warships, and killing Ca'uor through the help of Calus's psychic powers. After the battle, Calus declares that the Guardians have grown "fat from strength and power." Calus tells the Guardians that he awaits the day they will stand by his side when the end comes.

Forsaken
Alongside Cayde-6, the Guardian traveled to the Reef in light of civil unrest and a breakout from the Prison of Elders.

However, the mission in the Reef ends horrifically as Cayde-6 is murdered by Uldren Sov, the former prince of the Reef. Outraged, the Guardian takes Cayde's body to the Vanguard where his fireteam, Zavala and Ikora, mourn his loss. Refusing to simply do nothing, the Guardian speaks for the first time in years, swearing to take down Uldren and avenge Cayde.

Teaming up with Petra Venj, they broker a deal with the Fallen criminal kingpin, The Spider, to begin the campaign to reclaim the Reef, assassinate the Scorn Barons and kill Uldren Sov. This mission takes the Guardian across the Tangled Shore, where they hunt the Barons down one by one until only the Machinist, the Fanatic, and Uldren himself are left standing.

The Guardian tracks the Machinist down to a junkyard in the Boil. Using a stolen Drake tank, the Guardian fights through the Scorn until they eventually encounter the Machinist herself. After battling her and more of the Scorn, the Machinist falls, declaring in her dying breath that the Scorned Barons are forever.

Soon after, the Guardian allies with Petra Venj and a small army of the Spider's associates to storm the Watchtower, where they find Fikrul, the Fanatic waiting for them. During their battle, Fikrul reminds the Guardian of the murders they've committed. Eventually, the Fanatic joins his friends in death as the Guardian continues into the Watchtower to find Uldren. During their trip up the Watchtower, the Guardian is pulled between reality and the Ascendant Realm, within which they hear Uldren being urged to open a door by his sister, Mara Sov. The Guardian battles Taken forces during their trip up, including many powerful enemies who are Taken by the Voices. Eventually, the Guardian arrives at a seemingly important room within the Watchtower, where Uldren Sov is devoured by a massive Taken monster, the Voice of Riven. The Guardian is again puled between planes of reality as they fight the Voice, eventually killing it and releasing Uldren. The Guardian reclaims the Ace of Spades and confronts the defeated Awoken prince along with Petra Venj. One way or another, Uldren is killed, and the Guardian returns to the Tower with Cayde-6 successfully avenged.

After Uldren's death, Petra gives the Guardian a broken Awoken talisman and tells them to meet her in the Dreaming City. The Guardian sets out to repair and charge the Talisman with help from the Spider, then returns to the Watchtower and enters the gateway to the Dreaming City. The Guardian finds themself on a beach in an unfamiliar place. They head for higher ground, seeing Petra's ship fly overhead and following it. They find three formerly Awoken woman standing in their way: the Techeuns known as Kalli, Shuro Chi, and Sedia, who had all been Taken when Oryx attacked three years prior. They send the Guardian into the Ascendant Plane, where they battle more Taken and encounter Toland, the Shattered, who warns them to leave the Dreaming City while they still can. Nevertheless, the Guardian keeps going, battling the Taken and Hive in their way. They eventually reunite with Petra, who requests that they find an Offering to present to the machine they've found. The Guardian goes back out to search, encountering a sizable Scorn force and defeating their leader, Elikaa, Sworn to Vengeance to recover the Offering. The Guardian returns the Offering to Petra, who uses it to activate the Oracle Engine and speak to the Queen. Mara requests that Petra assemble a team to face off against Riven, which she does.

The Guardian and their fireteam are sent into the Keep of Voices to face off against the monster at the heart of the Dreaming City in the Last Wish raid. During this raid, they fight and save Kalli, the Corrupted and Shuro Chi, the Corrupted, freeing the Techeuns from the Taken corruption. They also battle against Morgeth, the Spirekeeper, killing the colossal Ogre. Finally, the fireteam encountered and fought Riven of a Thousand Voices, slaying the Taken Ahamkara and purifying her heart. Their actions would do more harm than good, however, as Riven's death inadvertently granted a final wish, plunging the Dreaming City into a Taken curse.

During the first week of the curse, the Hive began raiding the Dreaming City, stealing artifacts from the Awoken. The Guardian is sent to find and help an injured Corsair named Amrita Vae. After returning the first artifact, Amrita is taken by her allies to get medical help. The Guardian continues searching for the artifacts, battling the Hive and Taken along the way, including another Taken Chimera known as Xaras, Greed of Xivu Arath.

During the second week, the Taken and Hive assault the Oracle Engine. The Guardian pushes back the assault and defeats Mukor, Soulkeeper and Ugroth, Soulkeeper.

During the third week of the curse, the Guardian puts an end to a fight between the Scorn and Taken outside the Awoken monastery. The Guardian pushes deeper into the monastery, defeating three Ascendant Sentinels and Val Belyx, Gauntlet of Incaru. Defeating Belyx opens a portal into the Ascendant Realm, where the Guardian kills two Priests of Incaru and destroys the crystal they were guarding. Doing so summons a large Taken defense force, forcing the Guardian to flee back to reality, where they report about the incident to Petra.

The three weeks of defending the Dreaming City and charging the Blind Well have opened a gateway into Mara Sov's throne world, Eleusinia. Along with a small fireteam, the Guardian enters and finds it effectively in ruin and corrupted by the Taken as The Shattered Throne. The Guardian travels through the throne world, slaying the Taken within, including a powerful Taken Ogre known as Vorgeth, the Boundless Hunger. After killing Vorgeth, they find a statue of an Awoken woman named Sjur Eido holding a bow. The statue tells the Guardian that she was the first to stand beside Mara Sov, and that they will be the last, but only if they are worthy. The Guardian presents their Awoken talisman to the statue before continuing deeper into the dungeon. Eventually, the Guardian and their team reach the top of the spire, where they encounter Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return and her Fatesmiths. The Guardian slays Incaru, seemingly breaking the curse. However, at the start of the next week, everything returns to how it was at the start of the curse, and the Awoken realize they are trapped in a three-week loop. The Guardian continues to return to the Dreaming City week after week, helping the Awoken defend their home against the endless threat.

The Guardian returns to the Tangled Shore, where they once again encounter Toland. He leads them to Sjursrest, where they are assaulted by the Taken and receive three tokens. They return to the Shattered Throne when it reopens on the third week, and once inside, summon and defeat Xavoth, the Waking, Eriviks, the Waking, and Querim, the Waking. After once again killing Vorgeth, the Guardian returns to the statue. They present the tokens to the statue and are granted the bow, Wish-Ender, as a reward. Sjur's voice states that she will "seek a way home."

Black Armory
A few months after Cayde's death, the Guardian is given a keycard by the Spider to give them access to the Black Armory. They return to the Tower. Holding up the keycard at a certain point in the Annex reveals a fake wall that disappears to allow the Guardian to enter a hidden room. Within the room, they encounter Ada-1, the curator of the Black Armory. She states that the Guardian is not welcome by the Armory before noticing their keycard, to which her attitude changes. She explains that the Armory cannot sell any weapons because they have lost access to their forges.

Soon enough, the Guardian recovers the Volundr Forge from the Red Legion and informs Ada of their success. They forge their first Black Armory weapon: a machine gun known as the Hammerhead. Ada realizes the potential benefit of working with the Guardians and begins selling weapon frames to the Lightbearers in the hopes that they continue to recover her forges. The Guardian finds a mysterious box at the Volundr Forge site and receives a key for the box.

Sometime later, the Guardian recovers the Gofannon Forge and briefly encounters Siviks, Lost to None, who then flees. The Guardian eventually receives yet another key for the box.

Some time later, Ada intercepts Siviks' plans to breach a vault hidden within the Last City and utilize the weapons inside. Asking the Guardian to intercept the attack, the Guardian gathers a raid team to investigate the incursion, where they would uncover the Kell's Scourge and their new technology, capable of suppressing light and deflecting bullets. After breaching the Kell's Scourge security network and evading the Ablazed Glory, the Guardian would uncover the fruit of the Scourge's labor, the warmachine Insurrection Prime. After removing it from the vault, the Guardian and their team destroys the Servitor-piloted abomination and collected their spoils from the Vault, even uncovering the lost Black Armory pages.

Next, the Guardian finds the second Nessus forge, this one controlled by the Vex: the Izanami Forge. They recover this third forge and again receive a key.

Sometime after securing their alliance with Ada, the Guardian finds the entrance to Niobe Labs in the EDZ and makes their way through, recovering the fourth and final forge: Bergusia Forge. Upon returning to Ada, the Guardian receives the mold for a fourth and final key. First, they are sent to the Leviathan to harvest parts from the Watchers in its Underbelly. Next, they are tasked with completing numerous Public Events and Strikes to obtain Glimmering Amethyst. Finally, they complete a Bergusia Forge ignition to forge the final key and finally open the box. Ada asks the Guardian to receive an Obsidian Crystal, which they do. From there, they continue to work on the contents of the box by completing the Shattered Throne and entering the Pyramidion. Finally, the Guardian is sent back to the EDZ to challenge and defeat Siviks. Upon doing so, they return to Ada-1 and receive the Izanagi's Burden sniper rifle.

Joker's Wild
During the spring after Cayde's death, the Drifter invited the Guardian to partake in a new version of his game: Gambit Prime. After their first round of Gambit Prime, the Guardian journeyed into The Haul for the first time and took part in The Reckoning to obtain their first piece of Gambit prime armor. They were then contacted by Aunor Mahal, a Warlock of the Praxic Order and one of the Hidden, who asked them to keep an eye on Drifter and report what they can. It doesn't take Drifter long to find out that he's being spied on, and he soon offers the Young Wolf a choice: work with him as a partner in his schemes, or stay loyal to the Vanguard and continue to report to Aunor.

If the Young Wolf chooses to side with the Drifter, he is overjoyed by their decision and immediately sends them to receive an item called "The Jerky" from the Spider on the Tangled Shore. After obtaining The jerky, the Guardian is sent to Titan, where they replay a heroic reprise of the adventure Thief of Thieves. After finishing the adventure, Drifter will tell the Guardian to come to visit him in the Tower. When they meet with him, he sends them to the Derelict, where they find the first in a series of prerecorded tapes that the Drifter made for them. The Guardian hunts down the rest of the tapes across the European Dead Zone. After finding all of them, they are summoned one last time to speak with the Drifter face-to-face. he tells the Young Wolf that he's saving some seats among his crew, and that he wants them there to ride out the apocalypse with him.

If the Young Wolf chooses to side with the Vanguard, the Drifter is disappointed and tells the Guardian that they are wrong about him, but respects their choice. Using a terminal in the hangar, the Guardian contacts Aunor, who instructs them to place three bugs around the Drifter's hangout in the Annex. They do so, and soon overhear him telling someone to visit the Spider. Upon visiting the Eliksni kingpin, he refuses to talk without a bribe of 50,000 Glimmer. After being paid, Spider directs the Young Wolf to Titan, where they play through a heroic reprise of the adventure Siren Song. After the adventure, Aunor requests that the Guardian spend some time first in Gambit, then the Crucible. After doing so, the Guardian is sent to search the Derelict for clues. Unlike if they had sided with the Drifter, they now find the ship littered with explosive booby traps. After making their way to the end of the path, the Guardian finds a prerecorded tape that leads them to believe the Drifter has found a protege. The Guardian travels through the EDZ, finding the rest of Drifter's tapes before returning to the man himself. THe Drifter tells the Young Wolf that he's only trying to survive, and won't let them stand in his way of doing so. Afterward, he starts occasionally calling the Young Wolf "Snitch" when talking to them.

During this time, the Guardian received an invitation of sorts from Xûr, Agent of the Nine. After completing what The Nine requested, the Guardian was visited by the Emissary of the Nine, formerly known as Orin. She showed them a vision depicting the event that led to the Drifter being given the Haul now towed by his ship. After witnessing this scene, the Drifter implores the Guardian to stop investigating the Nine and leave them alone. The next week, the Guardian witnessed a conversation between the Emissary and her masters, in which she reveals that she was once a Lightbearer. On the third week, the Nine and their Emissary are discussing Mara Sov. The Nine claim that the Queen is in peril, to which the Emissary promises she will manage. On week four, the Nine and the Emissary seem to be in a conversation regarding the Drifter. The Emissary claims that he does what he does because he's afraid of everything, and wishes to avoid violence, but will murder anyone who tries to bring him into it. After this fourth conversation, the Drifter will again speak to the Guardian, promising to tell them about the Emissary's origins in return for them stopping their investigation into the Nine. He explains that the Emissary was once a Reefborn Awoken who was close to the Queen until her death. She was then revived as a Guardian named Orin, who went looking for the Nine and ended up becoming their Emissary as a result. After this explanation, he again asks the Guardian to ignore the Nine's invitations.

On the fifth week, the Guardian witnesses Orin discussing an unnamed being with the Nine. This being's pronouns are different based on the Guardian's gender. The Nine ask what "it" wants, to which the Emissary simply replies, "Power." She claims that no one is like him/her, and that he/she has agency beyond any other, and that he/she can "leave this game." The Nine still don't understand, so the Emissary gives up, deciding that it's impossible to explain. On week six, the Guardian witnesses a past conversation between Orin and the Drifter, in which they are discussing someone seemingly recently deceased named Namqi Sen. Drifter says he met Namqi in a dive on Ceres, and that Namqi claimed the Queen trusted Orin to speak with the Nine on her behalf. Drifter promises Orin that he will be there for her if she ever needs a shoulder to cry on, and the conversation ends. On week seven, the Guardian again witnesses a conversation between Orin and the Drifter, though it's more of an argument this time. Orin tells Drifter that he's going to go find "them." Orin asks Drifter to stop pretending like he cares, calling him "Dredgen," to which he responds that he no longer uses that name. She claims that his friend Callum Sol says otherwise. Drifter swears he's telling the truth and begs Orin not to go. She refuses and says their friendship is over, this time calling Drifter Wu Ming. The Drifter gives up, telling Orin that she's giving up her freedom, but allowing her to leave. On week eight, the Guardian watches a much more recent conversation between the Drifter and Orin in her current form as the Emissary. She claims that Drifter is having visions and a few black Pyramids appear next to her for a moment, before disappearing. Drifter demands to know if the Emissary is the one causing his visions, saying he doesn't appreciate what they say. The Emissary refers to the visions as a "gift," claiming that they show him his fate. Drifter counters that he makes his own choices. Upon completing the ninth and final invitation, the Emissary tells the Young Wolf that the Nine wish to share another truth, which the Drifter should've shared already, but hasn't out of fear. The Guardian witnesses the Drifter speaking seemingly to himself while flipping a coin, saying he might pull this scam off, and will finally be in the clear. His coin disappears and he is suddenly transported to the Nine's empty realm, where he sees a dark horse standing nearby. The giant Emissary suddenly appears before Drifter, saying the Nine have enjoyed watching him. She bids him farewell, saying their attention is required elsewhere. The Drifter sarcastically asks if there's anything else he can do for the Nine, to which Orin replies that he's already doing it and tells him to keep playing "the game." Drifter's coin reappears, landing in his hand with a symbol resembling one of the Dark Pyramids on its face. The vision ends and the Guardian returns to reality, where Orin says that their fate is a "war unseen among ruined fleets." She mentions two women: feared, untrusted, forever at arm's length. At home, the Guardian's fate is a coin in the hand of a liar. One man: afraid, untrustworthy, forever grasping. She says the Guardian must reckon with themself, asking if they know the shape of their trial. Drifter is upset with the Guardian for not listening to him, saying he's killed others for less. He says he's in over his head, that the Nine showed him what's coming, and it's what he feared all along. He implores you to put aside your dogma, saying the coming fight can't be won with Light alone. He claims that Gambit is the key to salvation.

Season of Opulence
It would soon come to the Vanguard's notice that a Large, strange barge had touched down on the surface of Nessus. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the barge belonged to emperor Calus and was carrying Werner 99-40, a reprogrammed frame. Calus invited the guardian onto the Leviathan to participate in a new activity known as "The Menagerie". During this, the guardians would enter the Leviathan's depths and contend with Hive and Vex specimens which Calus possessed for his amusement. However, Calus would soon reveal that a Loyalist named Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer had gone mad, corrupted by a Hive crown. Gahlran had released the Hive inside the Menagerie, causing an infestation. Calus directs the Guardian to clear the infestation and kill Gahlran. Despite the strange powers of the crown, the guardians slew Gahlran and exterminated the Hive.

Shadowkeep
After the death of Galhran, the Sorrow Bearer at The Guardian's hands, a seismic event occurred on the Moon, causing both the Vanguard and the Hive to commence a full-scale assault on the lunar surface. Ikora Rey enters the radio link to inform The Guardian that Eris Morn had descended below the Lunar Surface. The Guardian is then sent after Eris, after fighting their way through Nightmare Thralls. The Guardian is put face to face with a massive Pyramid-like structure beneath the surface. As they approach the vessel, a Nightmare of Crota, Son of Oryx appears and fights the Guardian. The Guardian retaliates, to no avail, however, as similar Nightmares of The Fanatic and Dominus Ghaul appear, Eris pulls them out of the fight.

They were then pulled to the Enduring Abyss, where then Eris explains that The Pyramid is a remnant of the force that caused the Collapse eon before. Eris then tasks the Young Wolf with collecting the essence from the Nightmare of Omnigul, Will of Crota and cleanse it, crafting the Dreambane Armor to enter the Pyramid. After this task, Eris sends them to the Hive Catacombs to collect a Cryptoglyph to help create more armor. After forging a full set, The Guardian enters the Pyramid. However their Ghost is taken over by a mysterious presence as they fight their way through the Nightmares of Ghaul, The Fanatic, and Crota. Delving deeper into the Pyramid the Guardian comes in contact with a Mysterious Artifact. Upon touching the Artifact, the Guardian experiences a vision in the Black Garden, with a fleet of Pyramid Ships in the background. The Darkness manifests nearby, assuming the form of the Guardian themselves and warns them that it is not an ally or their enemy, but it is their "Salvation."

After returning to Eris, the Artifact sent out a signal reaching deep within the Black Garden. The Guardian and 5 other guardians enter the transdimensional realm, only to find The Consecrated Mind deep within. After barely evading the Harpy Axis Mind, killing its Angelics, and later destroying the Mind, the fireteam reaches the new heart of the Garden, the Sanctified Mind. After the fireteam defeats the monstrous Vex Minotaur, the Mind solidifies. The Pyramid Scale behind it opens up, revealing a cavern that descends into the ground. In the cavern, the Guardian locates the signal which derives from a veiled statue, exactly identical to the one found in the Pyramid on Luna.

Season of the Undying
After the destruction of the Sanctified Mind, the Pyramid on Luna begins to call out to the Vex of the Sol Divisive, who then resurrect The Undying Mind and engage in a full scale invasion of the lunar surface, Eris asks The Guardian to hold back the invading vex while Ikora Rey constructs a portal to open the timelines in which the Undying Mind hides in. the Guardian then enters the Black Garden, destroying the Undying mind in every timeline. The death of the mind then leads to Osiris' time machine The Sundial to fracture time on Mercury, leading to the beginning of Season of Dawn.

Season of Dawn
After the destruction of the undying mind, the timeways on Mercury became unstable, which interested the red legion believing they could change the outcome of the red war in the red legions favor. Using the sundial, The Guardian went through time and met a young Saint-14 as well as the House of Rain. After the gunfire stopped, The Guardian and their ghost gave young Saint-14 the perfect paradox, and a Vision of the current day city, inspiring Saint-14 to keep hope alive. Then the guardian goes into the infinite forest to save Saint, at the moment the vex took his light with the creation of Agioktis, Martyr Mind. With The Guardians help, he was saved from the fate we saw in the infinite forest during Curse of Osiris. Saint would emerge at our current time after killing an unknown amount of vex. He would later come to the tower.

Season of the Worthy
Shortly after the defeat of the Psion Sisters on Mercury, the Cabal engage in a last ditch effort to destroy the City by using the hull of the Almighty to crash into the Earth, destroying the City and the Traveler. To prevent this, the Guardian, Zavala, and Ana Bray request the help of the Warmind Rasputin to help create weapons capable of destroying the Almighty before it collides with Earth. After weeks of building satellites and preparing them for launch, Rasputin launches all the satellites at the Almighty hurdling towards earth and destroys the main part of the hull, leaving a wing to crash into the mountainside by the Tower, leaving no major damage, other than a piece of debris that had hit the area by the Eververse Shop.

Season of Arrivals
After the destruction of the Almighty, the Pyramids had reached the inner system. Alarmingly, many of these Pyramids appeared on worlds that were nowhere near where Rasputin had detected them. It is unknown if these vessels had broken off from the main fleet or if they are new ones who were arrived in the system undetected. Most notably is the Pyramid on Io, which positioned itself above the Cradle, where a strange tree had grown atop the collection of rocks. Eris Morn departed for it as soon as it arrived resulting in Zavala tasking the Guardian to investigate the Pyramid and retrieve Eris.

Upon arrival, the Guardian is drawn to a small disturbance on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Massive Pyramid, where they are once again ensnared by the Darkness with it communicating though their ghost as they're pulled towards the vessel. However, before the Darkness can do anything else, the Young Wolf is saved by an intervention from Savathûn who transports them to the Ascendant Realm where they are forced to fight both Taken and Hive. They fight the Witch Queen's forces back and forth through realities until Eris brings them to the Tree of Silver Wings directly under the Pyramid. Here, after another bout with the Taken, the Guardian retrieves an artifact called the Seed of Silver Wings that, once charged, will allow Eris to listen to the Darkness' messages without the Witch Queen's interference. Over the course of the week, the Pyramid continued to corrupt Io, deploying Pyramid Scales and infesting the planet with Darkness. The Guardian was tasked with charging the Seed through collecting Dark Motes, banking them back to the Pyramid Scale, and ridding any Taken Blockers sent by Quria, Blade Transform.

Beyond Light
During the restoration of the Traveler, Mercury, Mars, Io, and Titan all vanish from the Sol System due to an unknown weapon used by the Black Fleet. The Vanguard then receive a transmission from Jupiter's Moon, Europa from the wanted fugitive, Variks, the Loyal, warning that "Darkness walks among us." The Guardian is then sent to Europa, only to find an active Pyramid ship, similar to the design of the Luna Pyramid, floating on the icy surface. Upon arrival and rescuing Variks from a new Fallen Kell, the Guardian is beckoned by the Darkness once more, this time with them offering gifts in the form of Stasis, a powerful dark ice-like element never seen before. During this time they also become acquainted with the House of Salvation and their ruling house: Eramis, Kell of Darkness, Phylaks, the Warrior, Praksis, the Technocrat, and Kridis, Dark Priestess, who lead their house in a blasphemous rebellion against their past of worshiping the Great Machine in order to pursue its polar opposite, the Ziggurat and the Darkness as a whole, with the help of the Exo Stranger: Elsie Bray, who has returned to assist the Guardian once again after seven years. During their journey on Europa, the Guardian dispatches Phylaks, Praksis, then the Kell of Darkness herself, before her death, she is frozen by the powers of Stasis and on frozen reaching for the Europan Pyramid.

After killing Kidris, who was attempting to gain leadership of House Salvation, Elsie receives an alert that the birthplace of the Exos, the Deep Stone Crypt, has been breached. The Guardian, along with 5 other guardians, infiltrate the ancient laboratory and kill Atraks-1, a member of Eramis' council who converted herself into an exo. Before killing the Fallen Exo, she reawakens the mercenary, Taniks, the Scarred who then boards the orbital station Morning Star. After crashing the space station on Europa, preventing its destruction, the fireteam then finally put Taniks to rest for good. The Guardian then goes to the underground labrstory of BrayTech Exoscience where they meet the exomind of Clovis Bray 1st, where he enlists their help in defending his frame with the promise of forging the legendary sword, The Lament. After defending Clovis from the Vex, he gives the Guardian the sword as a token of gratitude.

Season of the Hunt
Once the House of Salvation is beaten, the Guardian is contacted by Osiris to come to the Moon and help him against a new Hive threat and the one who slew Sagira, the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath. The Guardian finds Osiris but fails to protect him against a Knight, however a mysterious sword destroys the Knight in time, which is revealed to be owned by The Crow, who is Uldren Sov reborn as a Guardian. They go on to work with Spider to tackle a new threat, the Wrathborn; beings mindbent to Xivu Arath, God of War's will. During this time the Guardian get acquainted with the Crow. Despite this revelation, the Guardian puts their feelings aside to help Crow eliminate as much Wrathborn as possible, eventually working closely with him to draw out the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath, the being leading and creating the Wrathborn. However the Celebrant traps the Guardian out of the Ascendant Plane to kill Crow by breaking his legs and leaving him to die. The Guardian luckily jury rigs the lure they used to lure out Wrathborn as a way to force open the portal. The Guardian tracks down the Celebrant and with the help of Crow, they destroy the Celebrant for good, putting the creation of Wrathborn to a halt for the foreseeable future.

Afterwards as a reward the Guardian is rewarded by Spider by letting them have any possession he has. The Guardian uses Spider's hubris in his words to request the freedom of Crow. Begrudgingly, Spider agrees and Crow and the Guardian spend the next few days celebrating and reveling in their success. They then part ways for Crow to discover what true freedom is.

Season of the Chosen
Shortly after defeating the High Celebrant and freeing Crow from the Spider, The Guardian is contacted by Zavala who informs them of the arrival of Empress Caiatl and the failed peace talks between the Cabal and the Guardians and is tasked with travelling to Nessus to spearhead the offensive against the Imperial Cabal. From there, an all out war of proving ensues against Caiatl and her empire with the Guardian as the City's champion. During this time, a mysterious ship known as the Glykon Volatus would be discovered and the Guardian would be tasked to investigate. Investiging further, they would discover the remnants of a horrific and equally mysterious ritual to commune with the Darkness led by Emperor Calus. The ritual went horribly awry; leaving the ship derelict, many Cabal and a Guardian shadow dead, and a ravenous beast left to roam the ship. Once this beast was vanquished by the Guardian, they'd return to the fight against Caiatl. However as the war continued, the Guardian began observing the internal arguments of the City's leadership, with Zavala and Crow wishing for peace while Saladin and Osiris sought regicide and a complete extinction of the Cabal.

It was also at this time that the Guardian would kill Ixel, the Far-Reaching and discover a plan to assassinate Zavala. With the help of Crow, this attempt would be thwarted but would only serve to spur Saladin's wrath against the Cabal. Soon after, Zavala would challenge Caiatl to a final right of proving: her champion against the City's. Caiatl would accept and the rite would climax in a battle within the Halphas Electus between the Guardian and Ignovun, Chosen of Caiatl, Caiatl's champion. The Guardian would emerge as the victor, forcing Caiatl to agree to an armistice with the Vanguard and withdraw her empire's forces from Earth permanently.

The Lost Splicer
While the Vanguard preoccupied themselves with the Cabal, the Vex launched a simulation upon the Last City to plunge them into an Endless Night where the sun did not rise. While it was unclear how the Vex managed to power their simulation, Ikora believed that the Vex found a way to turn their energy against them and enlisted the Guardian to seek the aid of the Eliksni who had better understanding of machines. Ikora urged the Guardian to find Mithrax, Kell of Light as he was among the last of the Sacred Splicers, who communed with machines, and to find him before the Vex do as he was their best and only hope.

The Guardian ventured to Europa after being provided intel by Ikora of the Light Kell's location. Mithrax was on a mission to help Variks evacuate more Eliksni refugees and were hunted down by the Vex and loyalists of Eramis. A radio message from Mithrax provided a rendezvous point at Asterion Abyss, but his Skiff was brought down and crash landed. The Vex ambushed the Eliksni and forced them to hide within a cave. The Guardian defeated the nearby Vex, while Ikora guided them to an energy signature. Within their cave, Mithrax explained to his fellow survivors that the Guardian was near and to have faith in them as the Light provides.

Mithrax left his cave to welcome the arrival of the Guardian who he sensed through the Light. Mithrax and Ikora explained to each other of their desperate situations with Mithrax suggesting a plan to blind the Vex within Europa with help of the Guardian. Mithrax with his Splicer Gauntlet opened a portal to the Vex domain and asked the Guardian to locate its curator and claim the living code within its core for study. The Guardian battled against the Subjugated Curator and acquired the Paradrome Cube, however the Vex system began collapsing as a foreign power worked against Mithrax. As the domain collapsed, the Vex signals dissipated from the region and Ikora offered the House of Light a place of shelter within the Last City.

Path of the Splicer
Later, the Guardian alongside Osiris and Lakshmi-2 welcomed Mithrax and his House into encampment site named Eliksni Quarter. Mithrax expressed his gratitude towards Ikora for granting this gift, but Lakshmi claimed it was everyone within the City who afforded them the sanctuary. The Guardian listened as they heard Lakshmi speak with a passive aggressive tone. Mithrax requested that his House required modifications for Ether production, while Lakshmi left the scene saying she will submit the proposal to Ikora. Osiris then interjected privately and claimed tensions were high within the City and hope their stay would be eventful. Later, the Guardian visited the Eliksni Wing within the H.E.L.M. and listened to a message from the Crow who wished they would give the Eliksni a chance. Mithrax also greeted the Guardian from the Splicer Servitor and desired to aid them in combating the Vex by preparing a Splicer Gauntlet for them. He explained that the Ether it pulled from defeated enemies will help them override the Vex signals and enter into their domain. He asked the Guardian to start their journey on Europa and discover the secrets fuelling the Endless Night.

Personality and traits
"You know it's starting to concern me how seldom you talk. We've been through a lot together, the neural symbiosis is pretty far progressed, but you'd be surprised how little I understand what you're thinking."

- Ghost

The Guardian has demonstrated humility and bravery, often fighting the Solar System's enemies without question nor hesitation. Like other Guardians, the Guardian is very silent, only speaking when the situation deems it necessary. Cayde-6 once joked that the Guardian was the "strong, silent type" of hero. They also put high regard and value in those they consider as friends, such as dragging their Ghost away from Ghaul and shielding him with their body (as well as completely losing hope when he falls off the ship), giving various figures who have aided them gifts during the Dawning (including the Vanguard, Banshee-44, and Asher Mir), and personally seeking justice for Cayde-6's death.

A much darker side of The Guardian is revealed in Forsaken. First off, The Guardian is shown to be vengeful, as they became determined to kill not just Uldren Sov but the entire Scorn faction just for their hand in Cayde's death. They are also shown to be somewhat unscrupulous, as they were willing to openly disobey the Vanguard and work with the likes of the Spider in pursuit of the aforementioned goal. Although likely more unintentional, they were shown to be either oblivious or insensitive during this quest for vengeance; blinded by revenge, they didn't show regard for Ghost's discomfort during the entirety of the ordeal, as well as going through with Uldren's execution even with the knowledge of what he had endured for the sake of his sister. However, despite going through with the execution, they did take responsibility for their actions by returning to the Vanguard once their mission was complete.

Once Beyond Light is released, the Guardian further shows their rebellion by openly communing with the Darkness and wielding its power, something only Toland, the Shattered, an exiled mad Warlock, had done before. At this point the Guardian, encouraged by the Exo Stranger, has all but rejected the limiting ways of the Vanguard and follows in Toland's footsteps in the idealology that the Last City needs any advantage it can get to win and to destroy all possible threats before they become a problem. During the events of Beyond Light the Ghost begins to tell his Guardian his fear of them and how easily they can detach all feelings and mercy to enemies and even seems to enjoy it. Despite their Ghost's worries and fear, the Guardian continues regardless, seeing it as necessary in order to do what's needed.

In Season of the Hunt, a conflicted side of the Guardian was shown after discovering their old foe, Uldren Sov, had returned and was now a Guardian. Though Uldren had no memory of his past life, as he went by the name Crow, and possessed the Light with him, the Guardian felt uneasy when in his presence, clearly remembering his role in Cayde's death. Nonetheless, the Guardian worked with Crow in combating the Hive of Xivu Arath and would develop a respectful partnership with Crow. Enough so that the Guardian grew dissatisfied with seeing Crow forced to work under the Spider. After completing their bargain with the Spider, the Guardian managed to use the mob boss' own hubris against him, getting the Fallen to free Crow. After Crow asked why they chose to free him, the Guardian simply replied because he was a Guardian, showing that they have accepted Crow as a Lightbearer, fellow Guardian and possibly managed to forgive him for his past life's crimes. This shows that the Guardian was able to gain closure for what happened to Cayde and not let the past dictate future decisions, as they see Crow as a different person to Uldren Sov. They would even help hide his identity from the Vanguard, namely Zavala and Ikora, during the Season of the Chosen.

Similarly, in Season of the Splicer, the Guardian showed support towards Mithrax and the House of Light, hoping that their cooperation would end or at least lessen the violence between humanity and the Fallen. The Guardian would train in earnest under Mithrax in becoming a Sacred Splicer to save the Last City but showed a measure of uneasiness with the political situation brewing in the Last City as Lakshmi-2 spreads fear against the House of Light. Though they didn't want to alienate Mithrax and his House, they didn't want to fight against a City faction either. Ultimately, the Guardian would side with Mithrax and Ikora in their hopes of a unified tomorrow over siding with Lakshmi's paranoid fears, protecting the eliksni refugees from the Vex when the War Cult's leader attempted to use a Vex portal on the House of Light.

Other names

 * Lord/Lady Guardian
 * Rivensbane
 * Dredgen
 * Unbroken
 * Wayfarer


 * Chronicler
 * Cursebreaker
 * Blacksmith
 * Reckoner
 * Invader
 * Reaper
 * Sentry
 * Collector
 * Snitch
 * Shadow of Earth
 * MMXIX


 * Harbinger
 * Undying
 * Enlightened
 * Savior
 * Flawless
 * Almighty
 * Conqueror
 * Forerunner
 * MMXX
 * Splintered
 * Warden
 * Descendent
 * Chosen
 * Splicer


 * Realmwalker
 * Gumshoe
 * Disciple-Slayer
 * Reaper
 * Discerptor
 * Iron Lord

Trivia

 * The Guardian was stated by Cayde-6 to be his "favorite Guardian."
 * Between The Dark Below and Forsaken, the Guardian had not spoken for over 4 years.
 * The Guardian would then be silent for another year until Shadowkeep and again for one more year until Beyond Light.
 * If the Guardian is Awoken, Petra Venj will refer to the Guardian as a "Cousin".
 * If the Guardian is an Exo, Failsafe will note that they have a sense of hunger when completing the Last Wish raid with Wish 9 active, indicating that the Exo Guardian was produced or programmed with "humanisms" to prevent Dissociative Exomind Rejection.
 * The VIP number used to refer to The Guardian in the Stolen Intelligence lore book, #2014, is,a reference to the original release year of Destiny, when the first player guardians were created.
 * The Guardian is voiced by different actors depending on the player's customization choices. Though as of Beyond Light, the Guardian is only voiced by the Exo actors outlined below.
 * The male Exo Guardian is voiced by Peter Jessop.
 * The female Exo Guardian is voiced by Cree Summer.
 * The male Human Guardian is voiced by Mathew Mercer.
 * The female Human Guardian is voiced by Susan Eisenberg.
 * The male Awoken Guardian is voiced by Crispin Freeman.
 * The female Awoken Guardian is voiced by Grey Griffin.


 * Lore wise, the Guardian is the most powerful guardian to ever live.

List of appearances

 * Destiny Alpha
 * Destiny Beta
 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * April Update
 * Rise of Iron
 * The Dawning
 * Age of Triumph
 * Destiny 2 Beta
 * Destiny 2
 * Curse of Osiris
 * Warmind
 * Forsaken
 * Black Armory
 * Joker's Wild
 * Penumbra
 * Shadowkeep
 * Season of the Undying
 * Season of Dawn
 * Season of the Worthy
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Beyond Light
 * Season of the Hunt
 * Season of the Chosen
 * Season of the Splicer
 * Season of the Lost
 * The Witch Queen
 * Season of the Risen
 * Season of the Haunted
 * Season of Plunder