The entire main campaign ofDestiny 2: Lightfallappears to have been just the start of this year’s big narrative reveals, it would seem, as the Season of Defiance’s Avalon Exotic mission may have provided crucial insight into the nature of the Veil. The inexplicable artifact played a pivotal role in theLightfallDLC’s narrative, only for Bungie to never truly drive home what it actually was, though this may change in the coming weeks and months.Of course,Destiny 2has often had problems communicating its grandest ideas, and it certainly does seem that the Veil is of massive importance in the grand scheme of things. Notably, after theLightfallcampaign only barely touched upon the Veil’s place in the metaphysics ofDestiny, the community got up in arms about Bungie’s treatment of such a big element of the story, but hints are coming in at a brisk pace.RELATED:Destiny 2 Is Getting a Mid-Season Buff for Primary WeaponsNot only hasDestiny 2’s concept art of the Veilgiven fans more insight into what the artifact may be, but the ongoing in-game developments shown as part of the seasonal Exotic mission, Avalon, may have provided a hint to its true nature. While this didn’t fully come through in Dima Goryanov’s impeccable concept art, it seems that the in-game model of the Veil shares more than a passing resemblance to the Season of Arrivals' Tree of Silver Wings. The mysterious Tree was first brought up in the lead-up to the Second Collapse in 2020, but it didn’t get a proper explanation at the time.
There were, granted, a few things that players knew aboutDestiny 2’s Tree of Silver Wings. It appeared to have been highly reactive to both Light and Dark and could mutate accordingly, and its branches were exceedingly similar to the strange roots growing from the bottom of the Veil. There are implied connections, too, with the primordial pre-universal Garden often mentioned in the lore, and it has been theorized that the final arena of the Garden of Salvation is, in fact, in the middle of a fallen trunk of one such Tree.
Even thoughDestiny 2: Lightfallfailed to convey its loreproperly in many ways, it is exceedingly unlikely that the similarities between the Veil as it appears in the Avalon Exotic mission and the Tree of Silver Wings are accidental. Instead, Bungie may be looking at ways to elegantly tie up many of the story’s mysterious artifacts of Light and Dark in one fell swoop.
While some believe thatLightfallwas just filler forDestiny 2ahead of next year’s launch ofThe Final Shape, the expansion may end up having significant merit for lore-minded players in particular. The Avalon mission still has a few permutations to go through, and it’s entirely possible that more information about the Veil — even if only implied — may end up being featured in it.
Destiny 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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