Eris Morn
Anyone who has already navigated the flaming wreckage of the Tower during the “Homecoming” mission knows the familiar faces that help our Guardian through. Cayde is there, trying to link up with his “date.” Zavala and Ikora are kicking ass on the front lines. Shaxx is there to open a door for you (which is much more helpful than his Crucible dialogue).
But where’s Eris? She’s mentioned throughout the campaign, including a reference to Cayde still owing her a ship. It’s also made clear that no one has seen her since the assault. She’s way too important, and popular, to kill off-screen… right? As long as the Hive are still around, her hiatus probably isn’t permanent.
As with most things from D1, our answers can be found in the Grimoire Cards, specifically ones that came out with Age of Triumph. According to Ghost Fragment: Eris Morn, Eris visited Asher Mir (whom we meet on Io) during his stay in the Med Bay. She speaks to him while he lay unconscious, stating that she will be leaving this “lie” now that her comrades have been avenged, traveling beyond the City to find a way to end the Hive for good.
For fans of Eris, this is bittersweet news. On one hand, Eris is almost surely still alive. On the other hand, Destiny doesn’t have a great track record of providing us with closure on characters that suddenly depart the story (Mara Sov, The Stranger, etc). With the current battle focusing on the Red Legion, and hints that the first expansion will focus on the Vex, it could be a long time before we see Eris again. That said, she gets name-dropped more than anyone on this list during the campaign, which I take as a good sign that she will return.
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Lord Saladin
For the first two years of Destiny, Guardians weren’t used to seeing a lot of the lone remaining Iron Lord. Rise of Iron made him a permanent fixture at Felwinter Peak, as well as introducing another still-living Iron Lord to head up the Iron Banner (Lady Efrideet). But in Destiny 2, besides a reference to the Guardian as “Saladin’s Young Wolf,” the Iron Lord is notably absent.
We know that the City takes the brunt of the Red Legion’s attack, which explains Saladin’s absence during Homecoming. It’s a good four weeks before our Guardian even gets his/her power back and longer still before the counterattack gets underway. Where was Saladin during this time? Did he freak out even harder than Ikora about his loss of powers? Did he get stranded on his mountain without a radio? Couldn’t we have used his experience in the battle at the City? Maybe he could have saved Cayde’s arm. And where is Cayde’s scout, Shiro?
Of all the names on this list, Saladin’s fate will probably be cleared up the soonest, as the first Iron Banner for Destiny 2 is just around the corner. Can’t have Iron Banner without an Iron Lord!
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The Reef
We provided immense assistance during the House of Wolves campaign, and though they repaid the favor by sacrificing their fleet to give us time during Oryx’s assault, it’s hard to believe they just cut ties since then.
Ghaul likely B-lined it to Earth and came nowhere near the Reef. So it’s safe to assume that they didn’t know about the attack, and with our satellites down, they likely couldn’t have warned us anyway. We had Guardians traveling to distant planetoids after the attack, though. Did none seek refuge among the Awoken? Did we even try to get word to them about the push to retake the city?
Even if some type of rift grew between the Tower and the Reef in between D1 and D2, the Almighty threatened to eradicate everything in our solar system. Joining an attempt to thwart eradication is definitely in the Reef’s best interest, regardless of any offenses Cayde likely committed against them. Speaking of Cayde, the only mention of the Reef that I’ve come upon so far is the Vanguard Hunter rambling about getting in contact with them before dismissing the idea because “they’ll never go for it.”
Occam’s Razor suggests that the Reef’s absence is due to nothing more than story constraints. Bungie probably didn’t want to muddy the waters of an already lengthy campaign with an unneeded side trek to the Reef to converse with… Petra, I guess?
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Missing in Action
No surprise that characters who went MIA at some point in Destiny 1 still have not returned in Destiny 2. Despite being a cosplay and fan art favorite, Mara Sov is still unaccounted for.
Speculation around her voice actor sticking around has fueled rumors that the Awoken Queen did not meet her end in the opening scene of TTK, as it appeared. Rise of Iron may have given us plentiful bounties from Petra, along with reinstated Queen’s Wrath gear, but it provided no answers to the Queen’s whereabouts. In all likelihood, she sacrificed herself during the attack on Oryx’s Dreadnought.
Prince Uldren, likewise has not surfaced in the game since his ambiguous fate in the opening scene of TTK, but unlike his sister, Grimoire lore has at least signified that he survived and is out there somewhere. I suspect that the Crow leader is either searching for Mara Sov or attempting some form of alliance with the Fallen, though I’m not holding my breath for any closure with him.
And finally, the Stranger. We would all like to forget about the scattered, confusing, original campaign that surmised all the worst parts of Vanilla Destiny. Whatever plans Bungie had for her story arc were scrapped and any opportunities to revisit her have come and gone.
And yet… a small part of me saw those dark pyramids after the credits and thought, “what if this is who she was fighting and who she predicted would eventually show up?”