Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer

"He had but one purpose: bear the Crown of Sorrow and make the Hive mine. Imagine my chagrin when his very personality was annihilated within minutes of exposure. Whatever viral language was etched into the Crown's interior had taken over. Until you ended him, he belonged to a witch."

- Emperor Calus

Gahlran, the Sorrow-Bearer was a former member of Emperor Calus' Loyalists driven insane by the Crown of Sorrow and the main antagonist of the aforementioned raid.

Biography
"Gahlran thought he could glimpse a faint violet glow on the inside of the helm as it drew nearer. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Calus asked, as the voices echoing from the helm grew louder. “No,” Gahlran replied."

- Excerpt from "Am I to Cast a Shadow?"

Born of the Royal Pools from within the Leviathan, Gahlran was bred to be a Shadow in Calus' service by wielding an ancient Ascendant Hive artifact, the Crown of Sorrow, and using its powers to command the Hive. The Crown, however, was a trap set by Savathûn, the Witch-Queen with the purpose of corrupting Calus to her will, and instead drove Gahlran insane. As a result, the mad Cabal brought the Hive to infest the lower levels of the Leviathan; having taken the deepest depths of the Menagerie as his kingdom.

After the Guardian and their fireteam infiltrates his Kingdom of Sorrow, he confronts them and tries to defend himself with the aid from his Deceptions. Both are ultimately slain by the Raid fireteam using Savathûn's magic, and the Crown left inert.

Gameplay


Gahlran's boss fight involves fighting Ghalran and two clones of him, with spawns of crystals, Blessed enemies, non-Blessed enemies, and Deceptions. When Deceptions spawn, they are surrounded by a shield. A Blessed and non-Blessed player must melee the Deception to stun it, preferably in the middle of the area it spawned, in front of Gahlran. Gahlran will then raise his hand, glowing green. If the hand is shot while glowing, he will bring down a cleaver and if it connects with the Deception, it will kill it. After 3 Deceptions are slain in this way, Gahlran and his clones will begin to channel energy between their hands and their crown. Players must shoot the hands to stop this channeling, or wipe. After damaging the hands, players can then damage the crown to reveal which Gahlran is real. Gahlran will then be damageable, periodically raising his hands to channel, which must be stopped to continue damaging him. If death is not delivered to Gahlran within the damage phase, the fight repeats the same mechanics from the start.

Trivia

 * Judging from the Lore tabs, Gahlran is merely over a few hours old.
 * Gahlran is the second individual from another race to command the Hive. The first being Hiraks, the Mindbender of the Scorn.
 * Based on his appearance and lack of major clothing, Gahlran may have been one of Calus's Ceremonial Bathers.
 * Gahlran is the second final boss of a Raid to be Cabal, the first being Val Ca'uor.
 * According to the lore tabs, Gahlran was a genetically modified Ceremonial Bather, bred to be strong-willed in an attempt to use the Crown of Sorrow to control the Hive.
 * Out of all Cabal bosses in the Destiny series, Gahlran could very be the largest, towering over even Dominus Ghaul, Val Ca'uor and Emperor Calus.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Season of Opulence
 * Season of the Chosen