Nezarec, Final God of Pain: Difference between revisions

'''Nezarec, Final God of Pain''' is a chosen [[Disciples|Disciple]] of the [[Witness]], possessing immense psionic dominion over the [[Void]] and mastery of the [[Darkness]] to create and induce [[Nightmares]] into his victims to feed upon their fear and pain. Nezarec himself was felt mentally across a multitude of civilizations who feared and even worshipped his presence, including the [[Psion]] race and even [[Humanity]] before the [[Golden Age]].  

Nezarec initially led the [[Black Fleet]] in its assault on [[Earth]] during the [[Collapse]], seeking out [[The Veil]] on behalf of [[The Witness]]. The Disciple would had claim it only to have been betrayed by [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen]], who killed him and cursed his remains entombed in his own [[The Lunar Pyramid|Pyramid]] on the [[Moon]]. Despite his physical death, echoes of his consciousness continued to haunt across the system in whispers. His cursed remains were then separated and exchanged hands amongst the [[Fallen]], only to be gathered centuries later by two parties: The [[Guardian]]s of the [[Last City]] and [[Eramis, Kell of Darkness]] of the [[House of Salvation]]; the latter whom had brought only his head back to the Witness.   

Nezarec himself would become active again in the fallout of [[The Traveler]]'s attack on [[The Witness]]' [[Pyramid]], where he haunted the citizens of [[Neomuna]] in the [[CloudArk]]. Serving as the final boss of the ''[[Root of Nightmares]]'' raid, he would fully resurrect by a newly grown [[Tree of Silver Wings]], only to be laid to his final rest by the [[Guardian]]s during their push to expunge him from the system.

The description of Nezarec's Whisper implies that Nezarec was anointed by [[Rhulk]] as a new Disciple at some point in the presumably ancient past. The lore tab of the weapon reveals that [[Eris Morn]] found the blade within a chamber of The Lunar Pyramid, covered in centuries of dust. This alongside the cutscene in Season of Plunder suggests that Nezarec was the original Disciple that controlled the Lunar Pyramid and was the owner of the glaive.<ref name="whisper">'''Bungie (2022/5/24)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Haunted]] - [[Weapon|Weapon Lore]]: [[Nezarec's Whisper]]''</ref> <ref name="cutscene"> '''Bungie (2022/9/20)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Plunder]] - [[Sails of the Shipstealer]]  [https://youtu.be/A9slzXnUNFk Cutscene]''</ref>

Nezarec himself was inscribed in a pre-Golden Age text titled "Of Hated Nezarec", a book of . The text states that he will one day rise again, implying that he is either dead, dormant, or in hiding at the time of writing. The origin and age of this text is unknown, aside from that it predates the [[Golden Age]].

According to Nezarec's voice lines upon his reappearance in the [[Vex Network]], he was once worshipped by [[Psion|Psions]] as a deity, suggesting that much like Rhulk before him, he may have infiltrated the cultures of Psions and possibly other species in addition to humanity.

During the [[Collapse]], Nezarec led the [[Black Fleet]] in its assault against humanity, with his [[Lunar Pyramid|Pyramid]] becoming stranded on the [[Moon]] when the Traveler made its last stand against the Fleet.<ref name="cutscene"/>

A [[Human]] family carried on Nezarec's religious teachings after the Collapse, and was given some of his power in return. Their youngest son, [[Mykel]], proceeded to create the [[Acolytes of Nezarec]] by directing the God of Pain's influence towards ideal victims.

It is revealed in ''[[Season of Plunder]]'' that Nezarec's corpse was discovered aboard the Lunar Pyramid by the [[Eliksni]] after their arrival in the [[Sol System]]. The Eliskni determined that Nezarec's body was a source of [[Darkness|great power]], and divided the corpse into pieces that they then distributed amongst themselves as talismans. These pieces were later stored within relics and hidden away across the solar system. During the season,  [[Eramis, Kell of Darkness]] sought to collect all the relics under the order of The Witness.<ref name="cutscene"/><ref>'''Bungie (2022/8/23)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Plunder]] - [[Lore]]: [[Lore:Between Stolen Stars#I. Thaw|Between Stolen Stars - I. Thaw]]''</ref> Through her research on these relics, [[Eido, Daughter of Misraaks]] discovered a reference to the "Curse of Nezarec" in an ancient dirge. The curse is alleged to drain the life of the user, though its purpose is also unknown.

Ultimately, the Guardians gathered all the pieces of Nezarec before Eramis, and Mithrax was able to use them to create something useful: a special brew which was given to a comatose [[Osiris]] in the hopes that it would rouse him from his state. The brew worked as hoped as it helped Osiris finally awaken from his slumber.

During the campaign of [[Lightfall]], Neomuna Civil News reports the [[Neomuni]] are experiencing widespread nightmares. The report goes on to state that one name has appeared in all of these nightmares; Nezarec. The reports also speculate on the connections between Nezarec and the [[Psion]]s in their psychic abilities. These claims would later be confirmed as Nezarec being alive when during the [[Hypernet Current]] [[Strike]], a mysterious voice said it would claim a part of [[Vex]] space for its own, and called itself Nezarec. Nezarec can also occasionally be heard by [[The Guardian]] at random while they're patrolling [[Neomuna]], particularly in [[Maya's Retreat]] and the [[Thrilladrome]] Lost Sector when they equip [[Nezarec's Whisper]] or [[Nezarec's Sin]], and taunt them and during the [[Terminal Overload]] public event.

Additionally, a connection between Nezarec and the Tormentors may exist, as multiple [[Tormentor]]s named Imprints of Nezarec are fought both during the Lightfall campaign and during the exotic quest, ''The Final Strand''. When first encountered, Osiris claims that Tormentors are "The fruits of an unholy alliance between the Witness and Calus.",<ref>'''Bungie (2023/2/28)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]] - Mission: First Contact</ref>, while [[Quinn]] later questions if they are the same species of Nezarec or are clones made by the Witness,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ays25gide1Y&ab_channel=DestinyLoreVault| Idle Dialogue, Neomuna | Quinn: "The Same Species as Nezarec?" | Lightfall]</ref> implying that they might be clones of Nezarec created by the Witness using Calus' cloning technology. This connection has yet to be explored further.

During the battle between the Traveler and the Witness in Earth's orbit, the Traveler hit the mothership of the Pyramid Fleet with a terraforming beam. This beam deformed the surface of the Pyramid, causing large growths of seemingly benign flora within the structure of the ship. A six Guardian fireteam assembled to investigate the now derelict ship. Upon exploration of the interior, the team discovered a large sarcophagus, containing the disembodied head of Nezarec. This head is revealed to be all that was left of Nezarec after [[Savathûn]] killed him during the Collapse, and despite being in a decapitated state, Nezarec conversed with the fireteam, goading them on with various pieces of information. Aspects of themselves, the nature of terror, and how they wished to express their newfound paracausal powers. These powers appear to have been brought about by the terraforming beam of Light that the Traveler shot, causing an immensely large growth to pierce the sarcophagus of Nezarec. Nezarec's resurrection had unwittingly been started by the Traveler.

The fireteam traveled throughout the shattered interior of the Pyramid, fighting the Shadow Legion in an effort to feed paracausal energy into the sarcophagus containing Nezarec. As enough energy was fed into the coffin, large contractions of Resonant energy began to pulse from the coffin, threatening the fireteam with extermination if they failed to attune with it. Nezarec's rebirth was complete.

With the fireteam returning to the sarcophagus, Nezarec burst forth from the amber-like encasement, displaying a newly grown body, fed on the Light and Darkness supplied by the Guardians. He reveled in his newly-found powers, controlling both Light and Dark, and wished to hear the screams of terror of the fireteam as he killed them. However, the fireteam proved too much for him in his newly born state, and he was destroyed. Exploding in much the same fashion as both Rhulk and Calus met their ends, Nezarec reminded the fireteam that even though he had expired, he would always be present in their memories and nightmares, an inescapable impression upon the Universe.