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 makes the Dreadnaught at least 4.54 billion years old.


 * 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.

The Golden Age
- According to various in game quotes, the Golden Age lasted for approximately three hundred years. It came to a devastating end in the wake of the Collapse.

21st Century

 * Earth becomes overcrowded.


 * 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 Golden Age, a centuries-long era of widespread prosperity and technological miracles, begins.

Early Golden Age

 * Fifty years after the Traveler's discovery, at the age of ninety, Commander Jacob Hardy records his experiences from the Ares One mission in his diary and explains how the Traveler's dramatic impact on human well-being and civilization changed everything while in the midst of studying the properties of Light-influenced terraforming.


 * The Cloud Walkers lead the first Exodus.


 * The first off-Earth colony is established in the Ocean of Storms on the Moon and an exobotany laboratory is built in Mare Cognitum.


 * The city of Freehold is founded on Mars with the support of Clovis Bray. It becomes known as one of humanity's greatest achievements.


 * During the initial exploration of Venus, ancient Vex ruins are discovered. Early Vex research outposts like Campus 9 attract Earth's brightest minds, leading to a colonization rush on the planet. The researchers found the Ishtar Collective and the Ishtar Academy.


 * A copper box with a red lid is discovered, its lid dented, one hinge shattered. Inside is a small quantity of the finest, driest powder, more brown than gray, more blue than green. The powder is weighed by the grain, studied close. One hundred billion bits reside inside, all of them tiny and nearly spherical, and etched with the outlines of continents and islands and icecaps. Each sphere represents a planet. One is found of Earth, Mars, and Venus. Many studying presume that the box is a message of how minuscule all of creation is, and some wonder who delivered this message, and why.


 * A father on Venus shows his son a representation of what their world used to look like before the Traveler arrived.

Mid-Golden Age

 * Clovis Bray begins developing technologies geared toward the colonization of the Solar System in the form of SIVA and Transmission. After going through several prototypes, SIVA is approved for deployment.


 * Site 6 is constructed.


 * The Asteroid Belt becomes a treasure trove of industry.


 * Jupiter and its many moons become a cornerstone of civilization. Cities are buried deep in ice shelves and within subaqueous oceans.


 * A Warmind is sent to build humanity's cities and ships with SIVA on unknown worlds nine billion miles away.


 * Dr. Willa Bray develops the first engram matter-encryption techniques based on relic crystals' unique datastatic properties. Glimmer is presumably developed as a byproduct and used as a source of power.

Late Golden Age

 * The Ishtar Collective captures a live Vex specimen and nearly go mad until a Warmind intervenes. They send a group of two hundred twenty seven proxies into the Vex ruins to explore the Vex network.


 * The Future War Cult is founded by members of the Ishtar Collective at Lhasa after experimenting with Vex technology. However the group disbands after many members either go insane, commit suicide, or leave out of ethical concerns.


 * The first Exo are built to aid and protect humans based off of experimental technology developed from studying the Vex.


 * Members of the First Light colony investigate the tunnels beneath the Moon. They discover the Worms and the Hive nesting deep within, but do not survive to tell the tale.

The Collapse

 * The Warmind Rasputin detects the sudden arrival and rapid approach of an unidentified entity outside the Solar System. Recognizing the entity as a threat, Rasputin assumes control of humanity's Planetary Defense Network.


 * A pilot designated SABER GREEN piloting the ship Secure ISIS communicates with ICE MINARET. Civilian launches are not scrubbed, threatening fleeing civilians, to preserve secrecy. They are carrying an antimatter payload of one annihilation-pumped caedometric weapon codenamed RIGOR, and two other unknown devices codenamed SKYSHOCK and APEX. ICE MINARET remarks that they both know where the order came from.


 * Rasputin attempts to defeat the Darkness using all available weapons, but to no avail. In a last ditch attempt to stop the impending doom, Rasputin enacts ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE, and prepares to fire upon the Traveler with his most powerful weapons, thereby coercing it into a "pseudoaltrusitic" defensive action, should it attempt to leave. The Traveler, for reasons unknown, chooses to stay and fight.


 * As all countermeasures fail to affect the entity and defeat becomes a certainty, Rasputin decides to enact YUGA SUNDOWN, and shuts down to protect itself, leaving billions of people to perish.


 * On Mercury, Venus, and Mars, dormant Vex units reacting to the Collapse reactivate and begin terraforming several worlds. While Mercury is turned into a machine in days the Vex spread is temporarily stalled by the Traveler.


 * A massive spacecraft bearing a sigil of Golden Age Earth on its prow crashes on an unidentified battle-scarred world where over two dozen Exo soldiers fight a titanic battle with the Vex.


 * The Collapse—the Darkness, the ancient enemy of the Traveler, arrives in the Solar System, precipitating the Collapse and the abrupt end of the Golden Age. Earth's defenders are steadily beaten back until humanity is threatened with extinction. Humanity is saved only through the intervention of the Traveler, which sacrifices itself to stop the Darkness. With its last breath, the Traveler creates the Ghosts, to seek out those who can wield its Light as a weapon.


 * At some point during the Collapse, some humans seeking refuge from the Darkness flee into deep space.


 * First Fleet or quite possibly what comes to be known as the Cassini, is lost around the orbit of Saturn.


 * The Cabal, encountering no meaningful resistance from human defenses, establish a beachhead on Phobos for initiating the invasion of Mars. On the planet however, the Cabal become engaged in a massive campaign of attrition with a native Vex programming called the Virgo Prohibition, who desperately attempts to protect the entrance to the Black Garden from an ever-expanding Exclusion Zone. This war will continue throughout the Dark Age and well into the City Age with little outside interference.

Dark Age
- According to various in game quotes, the Dark Age and the City ages that followed lasted for approximately four hundred years.


 * In the aftermath of the Collapse comes the Dark Age. It is a time of vast suffering and terrible evil.


 * The Fallen arrive in the Solar System in their Ketches to loot and pillage humanity's former worlds and colonies.


 * The House of Devils destroy London.


 * Those humans who fled into space during the Collapse become the Awoken. Many take up residence in the Reef.


 * Many survivors of the Collapse gather within secret enclaves in desperate attempts to survive. Some Awoken return to Earth and the Exo emerge but their memories have been irreparably damaged. Ghosts travel among the refugee columns, seeking the first Guardians.


 * Before the first Guardians appear, rangers led by the legendary Ayane Takanome protect humanity's survivors. They disappear after the Guardians become commonplace.


 * The first humans to be resurrected by the Traveler become ruthless Warlords, bringing about chaos and anarchy. Having had enough at last, Lord Radegast brings Lord Saladin and Lady Jolder together to end the Warlords, and forms the Iron Lords.


 * The Iron Lords confront the Warlord Segoth as he travels to a secluded village. After a bloody battle, the Iron Lords emerge victorious and Segoth is gunned down by Perun as he attempts to escape.


 * As the Iron Lords gain renown, Exo Warlord Felwinter changes sides, out of a desire for peace and security, and gives his mountain to the Iron Lords, who rename it the as the Iron Temple.


 * Rumors circulate of a haven beneath the Traveler.


 * Lord Felwinter meets with the Warlord Citan to broker peace. Citan refuses, and the Exo puts him down. As his Ghost revives him once more, Felwinter uses his Shotgun, Felwinter's Lie to terminate them both.


 * The Iron Lords challenge the Warlord Rience.


 * Timur and Felwinter traverse the Arabian Shores in search of the Seraphim Vault. While en-route, they are attacked by a grouop of Fallen before discovering an old Clovis Bray facility in the secluded wastes.


 * The first Titans pledge to defend the refugees gathering to the Traveler, forming the Pilgrim Guard.


 * Reports are made of a Cabal commander, Bracus Tho'ourg, who secured the Buried City on Mars with merely a fraction of the planet’s Cabal forces. The first Guardians who faced him died at some point between here and the City Age.

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. Based on in-game quotes about the length of the Golden and Dark Ages, respectively, the City Age can be roughly dated as lasting a hundred years up to the games.

Founding

 * The Last City is founded—survivors of the Collapse, human, Awoken, and Exo, travel from far and wide to the site of the inactive Traveler, and build the Last City beneath its protective aura.  The City Age begins.


 * The Faction Wars—power struggles between various political factions for the support of the City's refugee masses escalate into a series of violent conflicts. Rezyl Azzir, a great leader and champion during those days, helps unite The Risen, and forms the Guardians, gaining him further fame. Together they end the bloodshed before the City is torn apart by the civil war, and focus on a new encroaching threat: the Fallen.


 * The Consensus, a representative body through which the factions could pursue their agendas peacefully, is subsequently formed to jointly govern the City with the Speaker. New Monarchy coalesces in the wake of the Wars. In the aftermath, the first Titans construct and defend the City's walls.


 * The Hive begin landing Seeder Ships on Earth in a centuries-long process intended to precede an invasion. Guardians eventually first learn of the Hive's presence at the Rusted Lands, the future site of a Crucible arena.


 * Toland, an esteemed and highly respected Warlock, is exiled from the Last City for his obsessive and dangerous studies on the Hive. He continues his work unabated.


 * At some point, the first known voyage to the Reef is launched.

Early City Age

 * The Battle of the Six Fronts—the first major attack weathered by the City. Four orders of Titans led by the Iron Lords defended six different approaches against an overwhelming enemy force. None of the orders faltered, and what could have been a disastrous defeat became instead a decisive victory. The Iron Lords become known for their invincible patrols.


 * The Speaker appoints Osiris as Vanguard Commander despite the Concordat's objections and dire claims after Six Fronts.


 * The Six Coyotes, a legendary fireteam of Hunters, make the first survey beyond the Cosmodrome wall.


 * The Iron Lords stumble on an old Clovis Bray research on SIVA, which points to its source, designated Site 6 in the Cosmodrome, Old Russia. There the Iron Lords, having grown to the hundreds (including the Iron Wolves), accidentally awaken the old Warmind Rasputin, who activates his defenses in retaliation, killing all but nine of the Iron Lords, who sacrifice themselves to contain SIVA after it proves uncontrollable to even Rasputin; only Saladin Forge returned to the City.

Mid-City Age

 * The Battle of the Twilight Gap—the House of Devils leads the combined might of three Fallen Houses into an assault against the City. The battle is joined at Twilight Gap, just outside the City's walls. Vanguard Commander Saladin Forge coordinates the City's defenses with his students Zavala and Shaxx. Though many Guardians fall in the ensuing battle, the united Fallen Houses are driven off with heavy casualties. In the aftermath of the Guardians' hard-won victory, the outermost sections of the City are evacuated and converted into fortifications, and the Vanguard decides to take a more proactive stance in fighting the forces of the Darkness by deploying strike teams against high value enemy targets.


 * The Reef Wars—as Twilight Gap rages on Earth, the Awoken of the Reef ally with the Nine to subdue the powerful House of Wolves. Battles include the Hildian Campaign and the Raze of Amethyst.  After their Kell Virixas is killed, a brutal civil war among the Wolves ensues which sees Skolas emerge as the new Kell. Following Skolas's capture at the Cybele Uprising, the Wolves surrender and swear fealty to the Queen of the Reef rather than be totally destroyed. The Queen seals their nobility in the Prison of Elders and allows the rest to serve as her personal guards and servants.


 * Petra Venj is exiled to the Last City to serve as the Queen's Emissary as penance for murdering nine Guardians and their Ghosts because of a miscommunication between the Awoken and the Vanguard. Sometime during this exile she writes a letter asking to come home.


 * Following the Reef Wars, the Cabal commander Valus Trau'ug attempts to authorize an invasion of the Reef. When he is denied by his superiors, Trau'ug massacres his own officers in an act of mutiny and leads his most loyal soldiers against the Queen. Trau'ug fails utterly as both he and his Broken Legion are interned in the Prison of Elders by unknown means. Their ships end up as part of the Reef graveyard.


 * In the aftermath of the Reef Wars and the Twilight Gap, numerous rogues and outcasts of the Fallen houses band together to form the House of Exile on the moon and start to plunder the Hive fortress there.


 * Osiris begins to tire of repeitive missions and unproductive Cryptarch sessions and is noticed by the Speaker, who makes him an apprentice. However Osiris' desire for truth about the purpose of Guardians and the nature of Darkness seemingly drives him to madness. His obsession with the nature of the Darkness and misuse of resources eventually would eventually force the Speaker to exile him after the Battle of Twilight Gap, as the Speaker believed he had become as obsessed with the Vex as Toland, the Shattered had with the Hive. After a bitter argument with the Speaker Osiris himself vanished.


 * The Crusade of Saint-14—after Twilight Gap, the legendary Titan and Exo Saint-14 rallies an army of Guardians to attack the Fallen surrounding the Last City. His campaign is successful and Fallen attacks on the City temporarily abate. During the campaign, he personally fights and kills Solkis, Devil Kell. Shortly thereafter he goes in search of Osiris at the behest of the Speaker, heading for Murcury.


 * The Concordat faction attempts a coup against the Consensus, fighting a battle against the New Monarchy at Bannerfall. In the wake of their defeat, the faction and their founder is ejected from the City. The Vanguard and the Speaker then approve the ascension of the Future War Cult to replace the Concordat.


 * A fireteam consisting of Praedyth, Pahanin, Kabr, and three unknown Guardians land on Venus and breaches the Vault of Glass, hoping to destroy Atheon, along with whatever secrets the Vex have hidden there, and return to the City in glory. The assault is a disaster, as Kabr's team encounter the Templar, whose impregnable shields and powerful weapons force the team deeper into the Vault of Glass. Only Pahanin escapes the Vault. One member, Praedyth is trapped by the Vex and lost in time, and the remaining Guardians are erased from existence. Kabr himself is not killed but instead goes mad , becoming obsessed with the Vex , fashioning armor and weapons from their corpses. In the end Kabr does not die but is assimilated by the Vex. In his last act Kabr creates the Aegis, a weapon capable of piercing the Templar's shields, so that future fireteams will not meet his fate.

Late City Age

 * Rezyl Azzir goes to the Moon to "search [for] nightmares", and is "invited" in by Hive Wizard Xyor, the Blessed. Only his Ghost returns to warn the City of the coming war.


 * Battle of Burning Lake—the Hive invade Earth and make first contact with the Guardians. Though the Guardians beat them back, Shaxx unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade the Consensus from ordering a counterattack, realizing that the Hive's power needed to be understood before they could engage. Undeterred, he begins developing the lost art of swordsmithing, reverse-engineering the dreaded Hive blades for use by Guardians.


 * The Great Disaster—the Guardians launch an audacious offensive to reclaim the Moon from the Hive. The Hive Prince Crota, the son of their God-King Oryx, brutally repels the attack, personally leading the Hive's forces and killing scores of Guardians with his fabled sword. Humbled, the Vanguard orders a full retreat and declares the Moon off-limits, hoping that the Hive will lose interest and refrain from invading Earth.


 * Seeking to avenge their lost allies, Eriana-3 leads a fireteam of Guardians consisting of Eris Morn, Vell Tarlowe, Omar Agah, Sai Mota, and Toland, the Shattered to the Moon to hunt down Crota. Though they succeed in destroying Crota's physical form, the Hive catch and preserve his soul. As the Guardians try to flee, they are killed one by one until only Eris remains. Eris survives in the Hive's tunnels for years before escaping and later becoming one of Ikora Rey's Hidden.


 * The Great Ahamkara Hunt—the Ahamkara are made extinct by order of the Vanguard to prevent Guardians from self-destruction. The Warlocks preserve some Ahamkara bones and fossils for study, and a few Hunters adorn their armor with scales.


 * Andal Brask, the Hunter Vanguard, falls in battle with the vicious Fallen mercenary Taniks. Cayde-6 reluctantly assumes Brask's post in memory of his deceased friend.


 * Holborn's Host investigates the Dust Palace on Mars, seeking a Warmind.


 * The once noble hero Dredgen Yor, bearer of the Hand Cannon Thorn, begins his campaign of destruction, murdering fellow Guardians and civilians alike. His victims include the Crucible champion Thalor and the Hunters Pahanin and Jaren Ward. Yor is finally killed by Ward's son, the Hunter Shin Malphur and his handgun The Last Word after a fateful duel.


 * Fireteam Tuyet traverses the Ishtar Sink in search of Vex secrets. Unfortunately the Vex find them first and Tuyet is lost in a last stand on the Shattered Coast. The intel they recover though is later used to forge Pocket Infinity.


 * An unknown Hunter recons the Ishtar ruins searching for the Fallen House of Winter's Kellship. She is ambushed by Fallen troops before finally locating their Ketch. Rather than assaulting it herself, the Hunter instructs her Ghost to alert the Vanguard that Draksis, Winter Kell is at the Cinders.

Many Years From Now - 28th Century
- Based on the Rise of Iron's background and introduction, the in-game events can be extrapolated to two years, with Rise of Iron taking place a year after The Taken King.

Destiny

 * Seven centuries from the present day, a Ghost finds and revives its Guardian just outside the Cosmodrome Wall. While seeking a ship capable of taking them to the Last City, the Guardian is forced to fend off hordes of Fallen, before finally locating an Arcadia Class Jumpship in Dock 13. Ghost repowers the ancient craft, and the Guardian takes off for the Tower as the Exo Stranger looks on.


 * The Guardian returns to the Cosmodrome in search of a Warp Drive to restore their ship's ability for interplanetary travel. Accessing an old information hub, Ghost leads the Guardian back to where they found their ship in order to reclaim a Warp Drive from Riksis, Devil Archon. The Guardian succeeds in defeating him and returns to the Tower to meet with the Speaker. Back at the Tower, the Speaker confides in them that the Darkness is returning and tasks the Guardian with joining the others in pushing back the Darkness until the Traveler can be restored.


 * The Speaker asks Guardians to look into the renewed Fallen activity near the old Skywatch. The Guardian infiltrates the Lunar Complex and discovers the Hive have returned to Earth, before confronting and killing the Hive Wizard Gotra.


 * The Vanguard reports that the Fallen are tearing into machines all over the Cosmodrome. Convinced they are not just looting the place, the Guardian investigates and discovers the Warmind Rasputin is still alive and keeping the Fallen from accessing the Array.


 * The Guardian tracks down codes to raise an ancient array to connect with the other long-lost Golden Age colonies. After fighting off the Hive, the Guardian reactivates the Array and Rasputin swiftly takes control, connecting with defense constructs all across the system.


 * The Guardian picks up the trail of another Guardian who went dark searching for a way into the Hive Fortress. After hacking the colony base, the Guardian travels to the Temple of Crota where they fight off members of the House of Exile and the Hive, before killing Vurok. The Guardian recovers the dead Ghost and learns that the Hive are raising an army to invade Earth.


 * Zavala orders a fireteam of Guardians to assault the Devil's Lair and kill their High Servitor Sepiks Prime.


 * In an attempt to uncover what the Hive are planning, the Guardian infiltrates the The World's Grave and kills Kranox, the Graven. The Guardian's Ghost then steals as much data as possible before the two return to warn the City.


 * Infiltrating the Hellmouth once more, the Guardian claims the Sword of Crota and defeats the Swarm Princes. With its makers slain, the Sword shatters.


 * Following a lead from the vanished Warlock Osiris, the Guardian searches the darkest corners of the Hellmouth for the fabled Shrine of Oryx. After killing Frigoris, Exiled Baron and his Fallen crew, the Guardian defeats Sardok, Eye of Oryx and destroys the Shrine.


 * The Speaker broadcasts an urgent transmission to all Guardians claiming that a Hive ritual is draining the Traveler's Light. The Guardian 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 Traveler's Light.


 * Following the Stranger's coordinates, the Guardian travels to Venus where they are ambushed by the Vex. After defeating the Vex forces in the vicinity, the Guardian meets with the Exo Stranger, who tells them that they must find the Black Garden and rip out its heart in order to allow the Traveler to heal. Before the Guardian can ask anymore questions, the Exo Stranger is contacted by someone unknown before teleporting away.


 * Arriving at the Reef, the Guardian seeks an audience with the Queen and is informed that they must obtain the eye of a Vex Gate Lord in order to enter the Black Garden. The Queen then charges the Guardian that they owe her in exchange for her information, and the Guardian acknowledges.


 * The Guardian then travels to an old research station of the Ishtar Collective, and analyzes a Vex mind core, giving them vital intel on the nature of the Vex as well as the means with which to summon a Gate Lord. While at the Ishtar Academy, the Guardian kills Graliks, Winter Baron and secures an ancient Golden Age Archive for the Cryptarchs.


 * Raiding the House of Winter's hideout, the Guardian assaults the Ketch of their leader and kills Draksis, Winter Kell.


 * A Guardian fireteam is sent to stop the Fallen House of Winter from restoring the Soul of Aksor, Archon Priest.


 * The Guardian reaches the Endless Steps, summoning and slaying Zydron, Gate Lord.


 * Returning to the Reef, the Guardian brings the Gate Lord's head before the Queen who gifts its eye to them in sympathy for their Traveler. She then gives them the coordinates to the Black Garden including a way to repower the Gate Lord's eye.


 * The Guardian travels to the lost city of Freehold, and clears out the Cabal occupying its ruins. While en route to the Garden, the Guardian shuts down a series of Vex gates beneath the subway tunnels of Freehold, and discovers that the Vex are being summoned to protect the Black Garden.


 * The Guardian infiltrates a Cabal survey post and secures their research into the Vex Spire. Battling their way through the Exclusion Zone, the Guardian reaches the Garden's Spire and kills Primus Sha'aul. The eye is then charged, and the Guardian is transported to the Black Garden.


 * Within the Black Garden, the Guardian confronts the Sol Progeny and defeats them, destroying the Black Heart. Back on Mars, the Guardian is summoned to the Tower, where the Speaker gives a victory speech. Meanwhile, the Exo Stranger converses with the Guardian inside the Hangar and gifts them with her rifle before leaving abruptly again. The Guardian then repowers their ship and takes off into orbit as they prepare for their next mission.


 * A Guardian fireteam descends into the depths of the Hellmouth, and kills Phogoth, the Untamed before the Hive can unleash it on the City.


 * The Vex attempt to transform Venus into another machine in their network. Luckily, a fireteam of Guardians descends far below the Ishtar Academy and slays Sekrion, Nexus Mind, dealing a devastating blow to Vex efforts on Venus.


 * 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 unleash the Psion Flayers to locate an ancient machine buried in the Dust Palace. In response, a Guardian fireteam is deployed to secure whatever it is the Cabal are searching for. The Flayers are defeated, and Rasputin locks down the machine.


 * The Reef begins offering bounties for high-profile Fallen targets.

The Dark Below

 * Eris Morn returns to the Tower, warning of an impending Hive invasion led by a resurrected Crota. Under Eris' direction, the Guardian searches the Cosmodrome for Sardon, Fist of Crota and slays the Hive general within the waterlogged caves of the Grottos.
 * As the Hive lay siege to one of Rasputin's war bunkers, the Guardian repels them, successfully securing the old Warmind within its vault once more.
 * The Guardian halts a Hive ritual on the Moon intended to resurrect Crota.
 * The Undying Mind attempts to summon back the Black Heart but is destroyed by a team of Guardians despite its efforts to seal the Black Garden outside of time again.
 * A team of Guardians track down and kill Crota's last general, Omnigul once and for all, temporarily halting the Hive invasion of Earth.
 * A team of six Guardians infiltrates the Hellmouth and enters Crota's realm, the Oversoul Throne, where he is finally killed permanently.

The House of Wolves

 * The Reef is betrayed by the Fallen House of Wolves, led by their Kell Skolas, who wrests control of the House of Winter and declares himself as the legendary Kell of Kells. In response, the Queen of the Reef opens her realm to the Guardians to enact her vengeance.


 * Skolas' Silent Fang is stopped from usurping power from the House of Devils.


 * The Guardian stops the House of Wolves from seizing control of the House of Kings.


 * Skolas' Wolves begins attacking Vex strongholds across the Ishtar Sink and break into the Vault of Glass attempting to augment their army with its mysterious technology, before being foiled by the Guardian and the Oracles destroyed.


 * The Guardian tracks Skolas to the Vex Citadel where he has begun pulling the entire House of Wolves through time. After a final battle atop the Citadel, Skolas is captured and sent to face the Queen.


 * The renegade Wolf, Skoriks, Archon-Slayer, is hunted and eliminated by Guardians after killing one of his own Archons.


 * Skolas is killed in the Prison of Elders at the hands of a fireteam by order of the Queen.

The Taken King

 * Eris Morn alerts Mara Sov of Oryx's arrival, and the Queen sets out with the Awoken armada to Saturn, where the Taken King's Dreadnaught and a massive fleet of Hive ships have amassed, presumably to invade Earth.


 * Uldren Sov leads his fighter wings to attack the Dreadnaught and engage the fleet of Hive warships and Tombships protecting it, with the Queen and Oryx presiding over the battle from their respective flagships. With help from her Coven of Techeun Witches, the Queen summons her Harbingers.The Harbingers bombard the Dreadnaught, but leave no lasting marks on the battlecruiser. Oryx then fires the ship's superweapon, which rips a hole through the rings of Saturn and smashes the Awoken fleet. Queen Mara Sov and many other major parts of the Reef's leadership, including Paladin Abra Zire, and Techeun Shuro, have since disappeared and are considered MIA, while Petra Venj has advised all remaining Paladins to declare all of them dead. Though the Dreadnaught itself is unscathed, Oryx's fleet is obliterated and he is halted from attacking Earth directly.


 * The Vanguard intercepts a distress signal on all channels, broadcasting from the Skyburners fortress of Korus on Phobos. A Guardian is dispatched to Phobos in order to investigate, but upon their arrival they find the Skyburners have been slaughtered. Oryx contacts the Guardians, willing into existence the first wave of his army of corrupted Cabal and Hive called the Taken. The Guardian defeats these Taken, overcoming Syrok, Word of Oryx. They then attempt to escape the Skyburner Keep via the Aerodrome landing pad, which is riddled with Taken. The Guardian reaches the transmat zone and is pulled back to the Tower.


 * Realizing the Taken to be too deadly a threat to take lightly, the Vanguard send Guardians to rediscover lost powers of their forebearers. The Hunter gains the Nightstalker class and the Shadowshot super ability, the Warlock gains the Stormcaller class and the Stormtrance super ability, and the Titan gains the Sunbreaker class and the Hammer of Sol super ability.


 * The Vanguard locates Oryx's Dreadnaught in orbit of Saturn and analyzes its super weapon. Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 directs the Guardian to one of the dead colony ships in Old Russia, where he had previously hidden a stealth drive capable of getting Guardians past the super weapon 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 attacked Earth and have overwhelmed the Fallen. They then recover a stealth drive before defeating an Echo of Oryx and returning to the Tower.


 * With the stealth drive equipped, the Guardian evades Oryx super weapon and infiltrates the Dreadnaught. The Guardian then proceeds to disable the super weapon, and break into the crashed Cabal gunship, Dantalion Exodus VI, and steals information that the Cabal have secured on Oryx. Learning of a portal called the Rupture, the Guardian travels to back to the Moon where they obtain enough of Crota's essence to become Ascendant. They then infiltrate the Rupture and defeat Oryx's physical form, forcing his soul to retreat deeper into his ship until a team of six Guardians finishes him off for good.


 * With the arrival of Oryx, Cabal detachments across Mars and Phobos suffered enormous casualties. The Cabal are nearly annihilated until their reserve force, the Skyburners are deployed in a direct attack on the Dreadnaught. After the Skyburner's Primus is taken though, 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 Guardians stop Theosyion, the Restorative Mind from bringing back Sekrion, Nexus Mind from the past and completing Venus' transformation into a Vex machine world.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * Alak-Hul, the Darkblade is found imprisoned 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.


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


 * 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 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 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 exscapes.


 * 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 out 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.


 * 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 gives Jolder's broken helmet to Saladin. Lord Saladin thanks the Guardian and subsequently gifts them a Sword, pronouncing the Guardian as the next generation of Iron Lords.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * Another 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 also.