Destiny 2: Ending Explained

The Fate of Dominous Ghaul

Destiny 2 Ending Explained

The first part of Destiny 2’s ending revolves around the game’s final boss, Dominus Ghaul. Throughout the story you can see him conversing with the Speaker, trying to get insight into the Traveler in order to steal its light. The Cabal was once snubbed by the mysterious entity and denied its light. So Ghaul wanted to prove he was worthy.

In the end, Ghaul decided to just take the power by force, looking to make himself immortal. Due to this, he gains the power of the Guardians, mixing all of the different powers players have utilized throughout the journey in order to crush you once and for all. Of course, since it’s a boss fight, you win. Afterwards, Ghaul rises up as a huge, light-fueled juggernaut. He has become pure light, a truly powerful being that we would stand no chance against. But then something unexpected happens.

The Traveller wakes up and snuffs out Ghaul’s light, killing him in the process. The Traveller has returned and it will take its rightful place over the last city, protecting Earth and restoring the Tower. 

A New Golden Age?

Destiny 2 Ending Explained

For the entirety of Destiny 1, and the vast majority of Destiny 2, the Traveler has been dormant. After using its power to push back the darkness prior to the events of the first game, it’s been conserving its energy, slumbering as the last bastion of hope over the last city. Yet, thanks to the great threat that Ghaul posed, it has awoken once more.

It does more than simply wake up, though. After the credits of Destiny 2, you can see the Light of the Traveler expanding throughout the galaxy. Touching planets and distant stars, even passing by areas from the first game (the Reef, the Dreadnaught). The last time the Traveler spread its light, a Golden Age arose, leading humanity and other races towards technological marvels and changing the landscape of the universe.

The light did one other thing too, though. It drew the attention of something. Something we haven’t seen in Destiny before. 

Aliens Approach

Destiny 2 Ending Explained

At the very end of the final cutscene in Destiny 2’s story, we see the above ship. It’s dormant at first, but once the light reaches it, it awakens and starts to move, presumably towards us. The most curious thing about this scene is the shape of the ship itself. We’ve never actually seen this specific type, so it’s not entirely clear who they are, though we have a few ideas.

The first thing that comes to mind is the Vex, as they are into super angular things and are very high-tech. But that wouldn’t make sense, as the Vex clearly know who and where we are (we did kill their god after all). What does make sense is a new race, one that we haven’t encountered, but have seen in the past… sort of.

Back before Destiny first released, we were shown some concept art, and part of it included a race that never actually appeared in the game. Some believe that this may be the Jovians, the people governed by the Nine who Xur works for. But Xur is aware of our home and of our people, so that wouldn’t make much sense either. We don’t know why the Nine sends Xur as an emissary to help us, but we do know that they know quite well about our presence in the universe and wouldn’t have been awoken with such an ominous tone.

If you look at the concept art, though, the triangles that represent their ships are present, and they look awfully similar to the shape we saw during the ending of Destiny 2. This means there’s a strong chance that Bungie has a new race heading into Destiny 2. There’s no telling what intentions the ships have, as the ominous tone can easily be a trick so players expect the worst. But if our run-ins with the other races we’ve met are any indication, it’s time to hunker down and prepare for a fight.

For more on Destiny 2, be sure to check out our wiki.