Riven

"Most of those who [bargain] with me do not win. O murderer mine."

- Riven

Riven of a Thousand Voices is a powerful Ahamkara that formerly served Mara Sov within the Dreaming City, before being Taken by Oryx, the Taken King. She now corrupts the city from its heart, the Keep of Voices, and worked her way into Uldren Sov's mind like a parasite, bending his will in an attempt to open the gate to the Dreaming City and enable herself to enter the material world. She is the true main antagonist of Forsaken, and the final boss of the Last Wish raid.

Accompanying the Queen
Riven was young during the earliest days of the Reef. When she encountered Uldren Sov, who was on a mission to find a power that would allow Mara Sov to build an impregnable Awoken city, she was drawn to his unfulfilled ambitions and allowed him to present her to Mara Sov. The Ahamkara took the name Riven, in honor of her host. Through the years, she grew and accompanied Mara Sov in her ventures, becoming one of the most significant members of her entourage. Riven's wish-granting faculty played a key role in the construction of the Dreaming City. However, Mara remained wary of Riven's fundamental untrustworthiness and appetite as an Ahamkara. Mara constructed a Wall of Wishes to make bargaining with Riven safer, and made sure to keep her away from Uldren and other potential sources of trouble. Indeed, Riven's work on the Dreaming City included small but deliberate flaws that would make it vulnerable to attack.

After the Dreaming City was finished, Mara wished Riven trapped inside it. She remained there for the rest of her life, though the Queen visited her regularly to make bargains.

Taken by the King
Shortly after the Battle of Saturn, Oryx, the Taken King entered the Dreaming City and discovered Riven. Oryx offered to Take Riven away, although she knew that Oryx would not let her leave the Dreaming City. Riven, eager to try bargaining with a king, told Oryx to take whatever he wished, as long as he wished. Riven and Oryx both knew they were attempting to deceive each other and began laughing together at the irony of their scenario. Following this, Riven's identity seemed to merge with Oryx's, being simultaneously Taken King and Riven. When Oryx was defeated by The Guardian, Riven felt the Taken King's despair at not being able to avenge his son Crota. Although her will was fully restored, Riven reflected that she was still trapped within the Dreaming City and could not escape, while also having no one within the City to talk to as the Techeuns, despite also being taken, did not have free will like she did

A New Master
"I can tell this is not a part of her grand design. This is an introduction. She is at play. Through our new bond, I glimpse her intention. And I hope she remains at play."

- Riven

Years after Oryx's defeat, Savathûn, the Witch-Queen infiltrated the Dreaming City and revealed herself to Riven. Without a Taken King, the Taken Riven was directionless, and asked Savathûn to "take up those strings." This done, Riven's Taken directive changed again. She became capable of exerting her influence outside the Dreaming City, and through her bond with Savathûn caught a glimpse into her plans. What Riven saw unsettled her.

At this point, Riven made contact with Uldren on Mars, taking advantage of his overwhelming desire to hear from Mara again. She granted his wish by masquerading as Mara in his thoughts, and in that guise began manipulating him into eventually freeing her from the Dreaming City. Her influence also quickened the infection of Darkness within him.

Riven is ultimately responsible for the creation of the Scorn: when Uldren wished he had the power to save the mortally wounded Fikrul, Riven granted his wish by transmitting some of the Darkness in his body into the Archon's Ether, transmuting it into Dark Ether and reanimating Fikrul as the first Scorn.

Forsaken
"Ah, I've waited so long to fulfill one last wish..."

- Siren of Riven

Ultimately, thanks to the actions of Uldren Sov, the gates to the Dreaming City would be open, allowing Riven the chance to break free of the Dreaming City. Though the Guardians and Reef agents ended Uldren and destroyed Riven's agent, the Voice of Riven, Riven herself remained a threat that the Awoken knew had to be dealt with immediately, especially since she was now Taken. Pleading the Vanguard and Guardians for aid, the Awoken succeed in gaining the support they need to launch an assault upon the corrupted Dreaming City and end the Taken Ahamkara.

A Guardian Raid team was formed and breaching past the Awoken Watchtower into the City, the Guardians battle two of the Taken-corrupted Techeuns: Kalli and Shuro Chi. Not only were they successful in defeating the Taken Techeuns but were able to actually free them from the Taken's influence. Gaining their aid, the Guardians finally confront and battle with Riven. The battle takes them throughout the Dreaming City and Ascendant Plane but they were able to severely wound Riven. Ensuring that the Ahamkara never becomes a threat again, the Guardians enter the Ahamkara herself and steal her heart, taking the relic back to the center of the City and cleansing it of the Taken corruption with the help of Queen's Techeuns.

This was, however, exactly what Riven wanted. As an Ahamkara, Riven was able transcend death in order to grant one last wish that caused the Dreaming City to be Taken by Dûl Incaru and stuck in a time loop by Quria, Blade Transform. Even after death, Riven's Siren would continue to communicate with Guardians, specifically when they reach Mara Sov's throne world, known as Eleusinia.

Traits
As an Ahamkara, Riven is calculating and fundamentally self-interested. She enjoys riddles and bargains, and has no issue manipulating the wishes and desires of others to serve herself, even those of the Queen, who was her confidant for centuries. Riven is more placid than most Ahamkara, however, and initially stayed with the Awoken despite the rich hunting in the inner system because she enjoyed basking in the "heat" of Mara's self-realization.

Riven is capable of mimicking the voices of others. During her corruption of Uldren, after being Taken, she showed the ability to invade his thoughts and project the image of Mara into his surroundings.

Like the rest of her kind, Riven is a shapeshifter and typically adopts reptilian or dragon-like forms. After becoming Taken and corrupting the Dreaming City, she confronted the Guardian as a gigantic clawed and tentacled serpentine beast, with a head covered in numerous eyes, protected by folding bone plates that act as secondary jaws.

Riven has retained her free will even after being Taken.

Trivia

 * Though she is Taken, Riven is the first Ahamkara ever encountered in the Destiny series.
 * Riven is the third known Taken entity that retains a sense of free-will and independent thought. The first two being Quria and Malok.
 * Riven is the first female final Raid boss.
 * Riven's epithet, "of a Thousand Voices," is reminiscent of that of the Worm God Xol, the "Will of the Thousands". It is unknown what significance this similarity has, if there are any.
 * Riven is by far the largest Raid boss in Destiny history, surpassing Argos, Planetary Core and Oryx, the Taken King.
 * Despite her eventual enormous size, whether due to her shapeshifting ability or simply her young age at the time, Riven was once small enough to curl around Mara Sov's neck like a pet.
 * The soundtrack Shell of What Was is played during the Heart of Riven encounter, but also during the fight with The Mad Warden. The reason for this might be that both the dead Riven and the Warden have been killed and hollowed, and that their bodies are merely empty shells of something that once "was".

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Forsaken