The Witness quickly slices through a Ghost and his Guardian with a flick of his hand, slicing them into perfectly shaped pieces with no chance of recovery for either. This is by far the most terrifying scene in the new trailer. Power like that has never been seen before, and the image is horrifying.
The great conflict between the Witness and the Traveler has ended. A new launch trailer for Lightfall shows the two of them facing off in Earth’s orbit, indicating that the war has begun. Due to the presence of the pyramids, the Traveler has been forced to perform previously unseen actions, such as firing a massive laser akin to that of the Death Star at a pyramid ship.
To be clear, we, the player Guardian, are not the ones who experience this. This is a pre-rendered cutscene, and it appears to be a “OG fireteam” Titan who has previously appeared in advertisements and most recently appeared with an OG Warlock and Hunter in the Seraph finale cutscene.
In the trailer, there are also two more destroyed Arcadia jumpships, which suggests the entire squad may have been sent. The Witness has the power to instantly destroy any Guardian he chooses with a thought, and the only reason he isn’t doing so with us is because he has…plans for us, according to the unnamed characters. I believe that’s what they’re supposed to represent.
The Empire Strikes Back is one of the sources of inspiration for Lightfall, according to Bungie. In the Destiny community, there is a growing belief that we should prepare for something extremely significant and devastating to occur during this expansion. We ought to be ready to fail.
And not just lose in the sense that Ghaul threw us off the Tower and took our light during the Red War, lose in the sense that… I’m not sure, but it could be much, much worse. We might then find some comfort, forgiveness, and closure in The Final Shape, the last installment of the Light and Darkness saga.
You could argue that Uldren’s execution of Cayde earlier in the series was the darkest thing that Destiny got, but something about the Witness in this instance suggests a threat that is far greater than anything we’ve seen before. I’m afraid. You ought to be, too.