[quote]They are here. They are real. I can't believe we were so… right. …and so wrong. To think that we could stop this. To say we were naïve would be an understatement. We simply didn't know. Their power. Their strength. It's insurmountable. As they draw closer, all we can do is hide and hope that the facility doors will be strong enough. It's utter chaos out there. Too many put their faith in the Traveler. I don't know what sort of answers people expect from a gigantic ball in the sky. It remains silent, as always. At least I'm with her. Being with family is what matters in the end. There is no more hope. Only the screams of humanity.[/quote] <The final part, the Collapse itself. Funny how the music I was listening to took a dark turn. Anyway, now it's time to talk about the "big bang" of the Destiny universe and a little before and after. Not much is truly known about the Collapse if you ask only one source. Ask many, however, and you start to see a bigger picture. An example of a primary source would be the Awoken. Petra, in a conversation with Zavala, thought this: [quote]She bites back the rest: how she wishes that back in two-thousand-and-whatever, when the Darkness hurled mankind off the height of its Golden Age to plummet sixteen centuries into barbarism, it had done just a slightly better job.[/quote] Given the approximate date for the start of the Golden Age (between 2013-2020), it seems like it only lasted for about 80 years. This isn't really surprising given how long our past golden ages have lasted. A bright light invites a dark shadow, and it came for us. During the very late Golden Age, a lot happened. Trying to find a means to protect ourselves, the Black Armory was founded. The team on the First Light facility investigated a hole in the ground and found the Hive*. That and the colony on Titan found a Deep Space Anomaly. This DSA was the start of the Collapse timeline. The news of the anomaly set the founders of the Black Armory on high alert and they began sending their weapons everywhere. Mass production went against one of the founder's ideals but it went on anyway. Meanwhile, Titan sent out a probe to investigate the DSA. Shortly afterward, they issued a full evacuation. Some people did not make it out, but most of the colony did. Around this time, the Traveler left Io, one of Jupiter's moons halfway terraformed. It was coming to Earth. What follows next is a mess of information. The Anguish of Drystan auto rifle from King's Fall suggests that the First Fleet encountered the DSA and attempted to run, only to be caught and destroyed. They sent a signal to Earth saying that they were wrong about something. The Marasenna describes the Collapse from the point of view of the Exodus Green AKA Lang Liwei. Captain Alice Li attempted to communicate with an unknown vessel that was getting closer and closer. They were in the asteroid belt when they received word that a SKYSHOCK event was in progress. The whole system fell under Rasputin's control. The crew of the Yang Liwei declared neutrality and made a run for it only to be intercepted by the phantom ship stalking them. The ship covered the surrounding area in total darkness and expelled gravity waves which tore the ship apart and put it back together just as fast. The crew hear word that there was a series of "high-yield weapon discharges" all around the Traveler. Shortly after hearing this, Mara sends a line out into space. Alice sends a message to the phantom ship repeating their declaration of neutrality, only to be ignored. The chaos ended when the Traveler released a wave of Light which clashed with the Darkness. This clash produced a singularity which sucked in the Exodus Green and all of its crew, who would become the Awoken. Rasputin describes the Darkness essentially as an extrasolar intelligence that defied all logic. He says he fought the Dark with "aurora knives" and a lot more but it did not do anything. This crippling loss made him shut himself down to save his own skin while every other Warmind (or Submind, who cares?) was destroyed. Henriette of the Black Armory described the Collapse from the safety of a vault, and did not actually witness ALL of the devastation until it was over or at least doesn't describe it, only listing the enemy as "they". As such, we don't have an actual description of what went on during the Collapse on Earth or any other colony save one. Only one, and it comes from the man they called Cayde. [quote]There's no bounty. No Hive. I'm out in plain sight. Sky is torn open and there's nothing and nobody left in this ruined world but me and the boiling shadow all around. Whatever it is hits me before I can level my gun. Doesn't matter. Tendrils of pain crawl over my splayed fingers, my outstretched arms, my shoulders, my neck, my screaming mouth as it consumes. I'm being enveloped. Everything is wrong. Primordial. My systems go sideways. All but my sensors. It wants me to witness this, the world.[/quote] This is found in Cayde's Treasure Island Book from the Taken King Collector's Edition. Next to this entry are drawings of shadow-like entities. Some have compared this to a race of Darkness-powered entities that was found by the Drifter and some Shadows of Yor on an ice world beyond the system. The end of the Collapse happened when the Traveler used its Light to push back the Darkness. It fell dormant after releasing the Ghosts to find Guardians to defend it. The Darkness also fell dormant outside of the galaxy. *About the Hive. While Crota's Brood was found in the depths of the Moon pre-Collapse I don't think they were the active force in it. When the Darkness does its own job, Oryx watched and I assume that goes for all Hive, especially a loyal son. Not to mention that don't think beings of semi-Darkness can be truly hurt by that burst of Light, especially seeing how the Hive on Titan were after the most recent one. Also their movement on Earth was only recent. There are many theories and whatnot about the aftermath and I may cover them, however I will not be covering the Dark Age, City Age, Age of Triumph, the VERY SHORT Golden Age 2.0 that we're in, or whatever in between as they are either happening now or can be better described by other people. I hope you enjoyed this and do tell if I missed anything IMPORTANT. Part 1 - Modern Times and Ares One: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/250308071[/url] Part 2 - The Golden Age: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/250309092[/url] Aftermath: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/250320527[/url] Seriously though, did I miss anything super important?>