Theories From the Shadowkeep Moon Destination Reveal Trailer

Bungie recently released a brand new trailer for Destiny 2 Shadowkeep, the Moon Destination Reveal Trailer. This video gives us a brief glimpse into the Moon that we’ll be exploring from September onwards, and there are some pretty interesting takeaways if you’re paying close attention. Check out the trailer below, and read on for our theories.

Red Hive

Let’s get the obvious things out of the way first, this is a brand new faction of the Hive, or a new species of them. In the Warmind expansion we saw a new type of Hive come out of the Martian ice, with different appearances and abilities to boot. These Red Hive look more akin to standard Hive, with the main differences being a stronger green glow in their faces, and what appears to be tougher armour, which is red in appearance.

The red armour could indicate that this is an elite faction of Hive who have been building themselves up since the events of Destiny 1. With Crota and Oryx gone a new leader may have stepped up, one that’s got a lot of space magic power, which would explain that increased green glow we’re seeing.

The new stronghold, which I’m calling the Hive Keep, in Shadowkeep is also red, as well as the tower inside. This structure must have been built since Destiny 1, otherwise we’d have known about it right? Maybe this new Hive leader has had the Hive building a new stronghold for them, or maybe they’re closer to the Cabal, who as we know love their military lifestyle and red.

Dead Guardians

This image is the part of the video I’m talking about now. As you can see there are several shadows floating around in the darkness. This isn’t anything new, in fact Hive Wizards can summon shadow Thrall to hunt you down in the darkness, making it super easy to fight them (haha not).

The trailer even shows a shadow Minotaur, which could indicate that a very powerful Wizard, possibly the new Hive leader that has risen up, is present in Shadowkeep.

However, the biggest hint that these are Guardian shadows is Eris Morn, the NPC who is returning with this expansion. She went deep into the Moon with a fireteam, who all permanently died. She survived, but you can see from her appearance how much she’s been changed by her experiences below the lunar surface.

The fact that this expansion is called Shadowkeep hints at it being the place where the Hive keep the shadows of their prey. Guardian shadows must be valuable for some reason, maybe because of their link to the Traveler’s Light? If these are Guardians it’s super creepy, but could also show that we’re going to save them from any more eternal suffering at the hands of the Hive.

New Event Similar to Blind Well

Some sections of the trailer show a giant area behind the wall of the Hive Keep. This area has a number of platforms, paths, and, most importantly, a portal. I believe that this is where we will see the next event similar to Blind Well.

What I mean by similar to Blind Well is an event that is part of the game world, not a location you can fly straight to from the Director like the Tribute Hall or The Menagerie. Here I think we’ll be able to summon enemies of varying strength, and take them down for specific rewards. That’s the way I think it will go because The Menagerie has had such as positive response from Guardians, and being able to choose which reward you’re trying for makes the game so much more fun.

If you think back to The Taken King expansion, and the Court of Oryx event it hosted, that’s the kind of event I’m talking about. Something that requires currency of increasing rarity, putting out bosses and encounters of increasing difficulty, for better rewards.

A new Dreaming City

There are some things in this trailer that don’t make sense. For example, the Fallen enemy, and the way that some buildings appear to be on their side. I think Bungie have slipped in some imagery from the area after the initial Shadowkeep campaign.

Let me explain. In Forsaken we had the core campaign, in which we took down all of the Barons. Then, The Dreaming City opened, and we had a new, less linear, campaign to play through. Technically that campaign is still going, because each week the area changes, new challenges are unlocked, and The Dreaming City evolves to give us something new. Or it did for a very long time at least.

I suspect that Bungie is going to do the same with Shadowkeep. I think that the tower in the Hive Keep we continue to see throughout the trailer is equivalent to the one in The Dreaming City. I’m sure there’s a big bad boss to kill in Shadowkeep, but just like in Forsaken, there will be a bigger boss behind it all that we have to explore to understand and kill.

I reckon this tower, and new area beyond Shadowkeep, is going to be the continually evolving part of Destiny 2 for a very long time. I have no idea what might be in this tower, but I think it will bring the past of the Destiny universe to the forefront, because that’s what the Moon has always been about.

Those are all our theories from the trailer. Let us know what you think is coming with Shadowkeep in the comments.

Image Sources: Gamespot, YouTube