Timeline

This is a detailed timeline of the history of the Destiny universe. Note that nearly all events are not attached to specific dates; they may not be in exact chronological order, and adjacent events in the list may be separated by spans of only a few days or several centuries.

The Ancient Past

 * The Worms, an intelligent species able to wield the power of the Darkness directly, are trapped in the depths of a global ocean within one of the atmospheric layers of the gas giant Fundament by the Traveler. The Traveler's priest, a creature called Leviathan, also dwells in the deeper Fundament and attempts to dissuade anyone from seeking them out. The Worms in turn begin calling across the stars to other species, seeking to lure one that can free them. As a result, hundreds of species migrate to Fundament and become stranded there—eking out a living on the shards of their broken worlds which become floating continents. One such species was the proto-Hive, whose homeworld collided with Fundament and shattered. The proto-Hive survive and build a new civilization for themselves on the floating shards of their former homeworld, gradually forgetting their original history. Meanwhile, a species of bony six-armed cephalopods named the Ammonites benefit from the Traveler's patronage and build a sophisticated starfaring civilization spanning all of Fundament's fifty-two moons, before eventually coming into contact with the distant Ecumene.


 * At eight years of age, the proto-Hive Osmium King of the Osmium Court on Fundament sires his final brood of offspring, which include his three daughters Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash who are tutored by sterile mother Taox. At ten years of age, the Osmium King begins to succumb to senility and madness; becoming consumed with ancient texts and obsessing over the movements of Fundament's moons, and the possibility of a catastrophic alignment called the Syzygy.


 * Fearing for the Osmium Court's future and believing the royal daughters were unsuited to rule, Taox secretly contacts the rival continent's Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, inviting them to invade, assassinate the royal family, and install her as a subservient regent of the Osmium Court in exchange for engines capable of moving their continent. The Helium Drinkers agree, resulting in the Osmium Court's fall and the death of the Osmium King, but the royal daughters escape and vow to take revenge.


 * Three years after losing their kingdom, upon the advice of their father's worm, Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash use a salvaged high-tech ship to dive into Fundament's depths, hoping to discover a secret to stave off the Syzygy, which Aurash had come to believe was imminent. They encounter the Leviathan, but reject his pleas to turn back and continue on to the Worms.  The Worms offer the sisters immortality and power in exchange for accepting their larvae as parasites and carrying out the will of the Darkness. The sisters agree to the pact and are transformed into the first Hive: Xi Ro becomes Xivu Arath, Sathona becomes Savathûn, and Aurash becomes Auryx.


 * Xivu Arath, Savathûn, and Auryx return to the surface and share the Worm parasites among the other proto-Hive, creating an army that quickly overwhelms Fundament's other species. Taox flees, at first to other continents and then to the Ammonite capital moon where she is granted asylum. The Hive follow and war against the Ammonites, eventually exterminating them, killing the Leviathan, and forcing the Traveler to abandon Fundament. The Hive colonize and transform Fundament's moons into mobile war-moons, and embark on their purge of the universe in the name of the Darkness. During this time the Worms begin instructing Auryx in the nature of the Sword-Logic.


 * The Hive eradicate hundreds of intelligent species, including the Qugu, over a span of twenty thousand years. During this time they grow and expand their kingdoms, refining and deepening their knowledge of the Sword-Logic. Auryx makes war upon Savathûn out of both revenge and love, with Xivu Arath fighting them together.


 * Approximately twenty-four thousand years after the fall of the Ammonites, the Hive reach the frontier of the Ecumene and invade seventeen worlds over the course of a century . The Dakaua, a client species of the Ecumene, discover Taox in cryo-stasis aboard an ancient ship. Taox shares her knowledge of the Hive's leaders and motivations with the Dakaua, and the Ecumene unleashes its most powerful weapons against the Hive, who immediately suffer setbacks. Seeking the power necessary to allow the Hive to continue their crusade, Auryx slays his sisters and then the Worm God Akka , harnessing the ability to Take. Auryx becomes Oryx, the Taken King. Over a period of one thousand, one hundred and forty years the resurgent Hive triumvirate annihilate the species of the Ecumene so utterly that no trace of them remains. Taox escapes yet again, however, and the Hive resume their pursuit, ravaging the galaxy along the way.


 * Ten thousand years later, after destroying the Taishibethi in an event known as the Golden Amputation, Oryx reaches the Darkness itself and communes with it. He decides to produce children, and sires a son and twin daughters: Crota, Ir Anûk, and Ir Halak.


 * While Oryx is absent from his court to observe the Darkness destroy an ancient fortress world, Crota, after being tricked by his aunt Savathûn, inadvertently opens a portal to a place containing Vex while experimenting within the Ascendant Realm. The Vex, unable to comprehend the physics of Oryx throne world, manifest Quria, Blade Transform, who begins experimenting with the Hive, learning to worship the Darkness, and continue to plague Oryx's realm for a hundred years. The Worm God Eir finally calls Oryx home to deal with the problem after the Vex come close to conquering the High War. Oryx Takes many of the Vex, dividing them against one another, before finally expelling the cybernetic machines from his realm. Oryx comes to consider the Vex a worthy rival, and resolves to follow the Darkness and document the destruction it wreaks in a "grave of worlds" , so that he may learn from it and use this knowledge to succeed in his crusade against the universe. With his Ascendant Realm having been compromised by the Vex incursion, Oryx builds the Dreadnaught from Akka's corpse and houses his realm within it. This takes place before Earth's formation (at least 4.54 billion years ago)


 * The Hive destroy the Harmony, another species that had built a peaceful and advanced civilization with the aid of the Traveler, and topple the fabled Gift Mast over a period of a hundred and fifty years. During this conflict Oryx defeats Quria, Blade Transform and the remaining Vex who were attacking him, and gives the Taken Hydra to Savathûn. Quria's last act is to share what it has learned about Oryx's origins as Aurash with the rest of the Vex collective mind. Afterwards, Oryx's sisters part ways with him; Savathûn takes her war-moons into the black hole the Harmony's worlds orbited, while Xivu Arath ventures into unknown space. Oryx journeys on in the footsteps of the Darkness, continuing the Hive's crusade and still seeking the elusive Taox.


 * By means unknown, the Vex embed themselves in every known celestial body. On Venus this results in the creation of the Vault of Glass and Atheon, Time's Conflux to further study what Quria had recovered from Oryx and the Hive.

Pre-Golden Age

 * The Traveler visits the Eliksni (later known the "Fallen") and provides them with limitless Ether. The Eliksni prosper under the Traveler's patronage and revere it as "The Great Machine". During these years, the House of Judgment enforces law and peace.


 * Some time after, the Eliksni civilization is destroyed by an event known as the Whirlwind, and Chelchis, Kell of Stone is slain by Oryx himself, becoming a legend amongst his people. The Traveler abandons the Eliksni around this time. In the aftermath, the House of Judgement attempts to maintain order among the survivors, but is unable to prevent the outbreak of a bloody civil war and is itself nearly eradicated. The remnants of House Judgment are forced into servitude by the remaining Kells.


 * At some point, the Cabal forge a vast interstellar Empire and incorporate the telekinetic Psions as a client race. An unknown calamity eventually strikes the Cabal and forces the Empire to flee.


 * Long before the Cabal invaded the Solar System, Dominus Ghaul, with the aid of The Consul, leads a military coup against Emperor Calus, who is exiled to The Leviathan. Ghaul becomes the new leader of the Cabal Empire.


 * As Calus is too popular among the Cabal populace to execute without risking rebellion, the conspirators exile Calus and his surviving supporters to the Leviathan and lock its course to a destination far outside of the Cabal empire.


 * After wallowing in despair for an unknown amount of time after his exile, the Leviathan comes across an expanse of nothingness,which shorts out the navigational systems. Calus then looks into the void, and gains a renewed sense of purpose. With control of the Leviathan back in his hands, Calus begins exploring the galaxy and planning to retake the empire.

The Golden Age
- According to various in game quotes and Grimoire entries, the Golden Age lasted a few centuries. It came to a devastating end in the wake of the Collapse.


 * Present Day—Humanity detects and tracks the Traveler as it enters the Solar System and terraforms Mercury, Venus, and the moons of Jupiter. When it reaches Mars, the multinational Ares One mission is launched to make contact with it. The Traveler promises humanity the universe and imparts its vast knowledge to the species, spurring the colonization of the Solar System.

The City Age
- Many legends rise and fall during the City Age—the Lords of Iron; Saint-14; Toland and Osiris; the Speaker; and many others—not the least of which is a single Guardian, resurrected on the eve of the Darkness' return.

Many Years From Now
- Based on the Rise of Iron's background and introduction, the in-game events can be extrapolated to three years, with Rise of Iron taking place a year after The Taken King.

Shadowkeep

 * At the beginning of the events of Shadowkeep, Eris became haunted by the Nightmares of her fireteam; the same Guardians who had formed the first attempt on Crota's life. During the course of their journey, the Guardian creates several mementos, one for each fallen fireteam member, and gradually frees Eris from their influence.