The Vex are evolving and they cannot be stopped!
So you missed out on the Veil Containment Logs, ever so subtly hidden on the expansive city of Neumona on the Jovian planet of Neptune (territory of The Nine). But this isn’t about the enigmatic musings of the bodiless celestials.
You’re here because there are some blanks in Destiny lore that need filling in, right? Before we get started, I’ve created a table of contents to help you fast-forward to the corresponding mini chapter.
Table of Contents
- What’s The Latest — Episode One: Echoes
- Who are The Ishstar Collective
- What Are The Veil Logs
- What Are The Vex
- Who Is Mays Sundaresh
- Who Is Laskshmi-2
- Who Is The Conductor
What Has Happened in Episode One: Echoes?
The Witness is dead, leading to the rise of a new paracausal power for Guardians called “Prismatic,” blending Light and Darkness. This event also released anomalies, known as Echoes, from the Traveler across the universe. One Echoe landed on Nessus, a Vex-inhabited centaur world, causing widespread terraforming.
Guardians, with the help of the Golden Age AI FailSafe and the resurrected hero Saint-14 (an Exo Titan), must investigate the changes on Nessus.
FailSafe’s analysis reveals that the local Vex have become self-aware, leading to internal conflicts. During the latest mission, Saint-14 is brainwashed by an entity calling itself “The Conductor.” The Echoe’s arrival has altered the Vex, but the identity of this entity remains a mystery, with some clues hinting at its nature.
Who is The Ishstar Collective?
The Ishtar Collective is a group of researchers known for advancing scientific technology and pioneering Vex research at Ishtar Academy. Their discoveries shape Destiny’s narrative, providing deep lore and pivotal missions.
Members of the collective, including Maya Sundaresh and Chioma Esi, studied active Vex ruins on Venus, mapping the Vault of Glass and examining a live Vex specimen known as “Subject 12,” which accurately predicted the team’s actions.
After Chioma Esi’s discovery, the researchers agreed to rescue their simulated versions from a Vex timeline with the help of a Warmind, too complex for the Vex to simulate. The Warmind helped recover 227 copies, who later volunteered to re-enter the Vex Network for research. None have been seen since.
What Are The Veil Containment Logs?
During Destiny 2’s Season of Defiance, following the Lightfall campaign, the Veil Containment Facility opened to Guardians. This facility analyses the mysterious Veil artifact to understand its paracausal properties and prevent potential threats to the universe. Fabricated with Clovis Bray’s SIVA nanite technology and equipped with advanced security, it quickly became a focal point for key Destiny missions.
In post-season updates, Guardians accessed weekly “Veil Containment Logs” by Ishstar Collective researcher Chioma Esi, detailing horrors encountered during routine research with Maya Sundaresh. Maya’s obsession with the Veil led her to experiment with “billboarded” Exo frames in “The Chorus,” a room designed to interpret Veil data using a collective of human minds.
Tragically, Chioma Esi discovered Maya Sundaresh lifeless the next day in the Chorus conductor chair, where she attempted to commune with the Veil.
What Are The Vex?
The Vex, a cyber-organic species older than the primes, have existed for billions of years. Made from geometry and silica, they were the first pattern in the Prime Universe, predating Destiny’s universe.
Highly advanced, they claim planets like Venus, Mars, Io, Nessus, and Neptune, contested by the Shadow Legion Cabal.
The Vex can change, manipulate, or see into multiple timelines, even rewriting planetary histories to embed themselves. Their endless numbers have seen the future and will do everything to alter the final outcome.
Who is Maya Sundaresh?
Maya Sundaresh is a key figure in Destiny’s universe. As a scientist of the Ishstar Collective, she played a crucial role in studying the Vex, a highly advanced cyber-organic race. Her team’s research led to major discoveries about the Vex, despite personal risks, including being simulated by them.
In Destiny 2: Episode One “Echoes,” her research continues to influence the narrative, providing essential context for current encounters with the Vex.
In the Veil Containment logs, Chioma Esi reveals finding Dr. Sundaresh lifeless in the “Conductor’s chair,” and Saint-14 mentions an entity called “The Conductor,” connecting to a larger storyline.
Who Is Lakshmi-2?
In the Ninth Research Log recording at the Veil Containment, we learn about the origins of a fanatic and somewhat disturbed Exo named Lakshmi-2, and she was/is a copy of Maya Sundaresh.
If you are new light to Destiny, Veteran of Destiny 2 year one vanilla player? Let’s get you caught up on whom this character is.
Lakshmi-2 is a notable character within Destiny lore, a charismatic and controversial once-leader of the Future War Cult, a faction within Humanities, Last City. She’s known for her obsession with prophecy and preparing for war.
Often, using her faction’s Mind-forking device to predict future threats, her actions stir tension within the Tower, balancing between protector and provocateur. In Episode One, “Echoes,” her influence pushes Guardians to question their allegiances and the true cost of war. Lakshmi-2 died during her attempted coup in the Last City, overwhelmed by Vex after opening a portal into the district now home to Eliksni of House Light.
Who Is The Conductor?
Previously on Destiny in Episode One: Act 1 — mission: Mesmerize, Saint-14 had his system’s completely overwritten by a mysterious, unknown entity. Guardians who have played through the mission will have encountered Saint-14 self protected within his own Titan bubble surrounded by modified Vex units.
After battling and observing strange patterns from the Vex, the Guardian finds Saint-14 mumbling strange things, surrounded by modified Vex units and eerie apparitions hovering in the air.
Once freeing Saint-14 (again, I might add), Osiris summons the Guardian to the H.E.L.M (Hub for Emergency Logistics and Manoeuvres). There, the Exo Titan recounts the strange voice he heard, forcing false rhetoric into his mind and continually coercing him into agreement. Saint-14 reveals the name of the bodiless entity: “The Conductor.” This is the last piece of the puzzle. Once again, Guardians and the people of the Last City have a new enemy within the Vex collective.
Speculation Warning!🚨
Now, given all the information I have provided above. It’s clear to see how Maya Sundaresh’s experimenting with the Veil could have ended up in one of two ways:
- Maya gathering simulated copies of herself from within the Vex network and housed them within Lakshmi-2.
- Maya combined the minds of researchers, herself and Vex network copies to do what the Witness did, ultimately making herself into a new being.
Guardians, the stakes are high! I can’t wait to see how Act 2 unfolds on July 16th. Let your lore speculation soar — Destiny 2 holds countless hidden secrets. Happy hunting!
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“No matter what you are facing at this moment in time, you can do all things! Stay safe, and God speed!”