Destiny 2: Who is Savathûn? What We Know About The Witch Queen

The Hive have always loomed in the darkness of our Guardian’s story; whether they were living in the Moon’s Hellmouth or conspiring with the Scorn Barons, they have always been a threat. In terms of hierarchy we removed Oryx, the Taken King, from his seat of power back in Destiny 1 (2014) and since then have been waiting to see who held the throne next. However, throughout the story of Destiny 2 we have heard whisperings of a new ruler amongst them. With November 10th on the horizon and Beyond Light nearly in our grasps I believe it’s time for a grim reminder of who is waiting for us come Fall 2021, and why we should fear the Witch Queen of the Hive, Savathûn.

Three Sisters & The Osmium Court

The Osmium King had three daughters; Aurash, Xi Ro, and Sathona. Sathona, later renamed Savathûn, was the king’s second born, and was destined to devour the Mother Jelly or Queen Morph of the royal hive family. After Aurash slayed the Osmium King, the three siblings devoured their morphs (Aurash became Auryx, Sathano became Savathûn, and Xi Ro became Xivu Arath) and set out in search of power. The first power source they discovered came from the worm gods, who Auryx would later betray for the powers of the Deep (The Darkness). The worm gods tasked Savathûn with the assasination of Auryx in a belief that he would become too powerful. She succeeded, but not permanently. The Deep provided Auryx, now reborn as Oryx in a belief that he would be their final shape, with the Sword Logic and the Tablets of Ruin. With his new found gift Oryx slaughtered the worm gods and went to war with his sister, Savathûn, over the Tablets of Ruin.

During their feud, Savathûn would establish the High Coven, which was her version of the Court of Oryx. Savathûn would also attempt to sabatage her brother’s throne world by manipulating her nephew, Crota, into using his sword to cut a whole in reality using his sword. This would allow the Vex into the throne world and would begin the creation of Quria, Blade Transform, a vex mind dedicated to mastering the Sword Logic. Quria would become taken by Oryx and soon after the vex mind would be gifted to Savathûn as a means of spying on her. Savathûn saw through the Taken King’s ploy and ventured into a black hole alongside Quria and her brood; as a means of studying and corrupting the vex mind further. After Oryx’s death, Savathûn’s son Malok would attempt to become the Taken King’s successor until our guardian put him down within the moon during the April Update. This would be the last time the siblings interacted and would be the last documentation of the Witch Queen until the release of Destiny 2 in 2017.

The Witch Queen’s Plan

During the first year following the Red War, Savathûn would become a major competitor for our Guardian. She began on her onslaught by infesting Titan with her brood, costing the Vanguard the lives of Taeko-3 and eight other guardians during the Savathûn’s Song strike by siphoning their light and funneling it into void crystals; something we wouldn’t get revenge for until the Season of Arrivals in the form of the Ruinous Effigy. Savathûn would proceed to take over the Taken after Oryx’s demise. Using the Taken she would attempt several incursions on Io including the corruption of the Pyramidian during the Festering Core strike, which our guardian would stop. Savathûn’s next attempt would come on the icy surface of Mars. Savathûn would commune with her nephew, Nokris, on Mars in order to resurrect the last worm god, Xol, which would be foiled by our Guardian yet again during the Warmind campaign.

Savathûn & Forsaken

Year 2 of Destiny 2 would see our guardian venture into outlaw territory as we hunted down and eliminated each of Cayde-6’s killers. However, we still haven’t quite finished the job. Leading into the story of Forsaken, Savathûn would reclaim Riven of a Thousand Voices and place the curse on the Dreaming City using her daughter, Dul Incaru, to play warden over the Awoken homeland. Of course all seasoned veterans know the rest, but for those who don’t I will elaborate. Riven would then manipulate Uldren to release the Scorn Barons and kill Cayde-6, which would lead us to the hunt down Uldren and the barons, leading us to the Dreaming City. Once in the Awoken homeland we would encounter Riven during the Last Wish raid and tear out her heart, purifying a few Techeuns along the way, which would lead us into Queen Mara Sov’s Throne World to end the curse. This would, however, fail due to the timeloop created around the curse.

The Crown of Sorrow

Savathûn acknowledges Emperor Calus as a possible threat to her victory and plans to eliminate him. The Witch Queen creates a strong Hive artifact known as the Crown of Sorrow and leaves it for Calus to discover. Calus is intrigued by the artifact, but the Emperor has foreseen what it may hold due to his Chronicon, a book laying out the end of the universe that Savathûn has some influence in, and bestows the crown on his right hand, Gahlran. Gahlran is corrupted by the crown and wields it to control the Hive on the menagerie for his new queen, Savathûn. The emperor would then ask our Guardians a favor, to clear out his menagerie and eliminate the rot brewing within the Leviathan. After eliminating Gahlran, Calus would extend his hand by allowing us access to the Chronicon and the potential to be his new shadow.

Shadowkeep to Beyond Light

This leads us to where we are now and what we’ve conquered over the course of the past year. Savathûn felt the presence of the Pyramid beneath the moon and knew the guardians were coming. In order to gain knowledge from the Pyramids, Savathûn allied herself with Hashladun and Crota’s other daughters in order to build the Scarlet Keep. While our Guardian was conquering our fears in the form of the Nightmares on the moon, the Witch Queen created Ir Airam, Deathsinger as well as the Altars of Sorrow to help fuel the ritual conducted in the Pit of Heressy to resurrect Zulmak, Instrument of Torment. During the campaign of Shadowkeep we would make short work of the Hive and their rituals, but we wouldn’t come close to Savathûn.

The Season of Arrivals saw Pyramids arriving on Io, Titan, Mercury, and Mars, as well as the growth of the Tree of Silver Wings in the Cradle on Io. As the Darkness settles on these planets and prepares for their imminent destruction, Savathûn has cast her eyes upon the fallen worlds in order to watch the ensuing chaos. Throughout this season, Eris Morn has been our liaison for communicating with the darkness, which has become a perilous task due to the interference by Savathûn and her subjugates. As we commune with the darkness at the tree we are dragged away to the ascendant realm and presented in the Court of Savathûn. Within the court, Nokris tells us of how the darkness lies and tries to sway us toward Savathûn’s aid. In an attempt to win our trust the Darkness presents us with a gift, the Ruinous Effigy, which allows us to wield the powers Savathûn used on the guardians on Titan to turn them into void crystals against her. Using this new found gift we blind Savathûn on the four planets bound for destruction so that she may not find joy in our struggles. The Darkness then proceeded to call Savathûn and her brood pests who were jealous of the attention given to the guardian. However we are still waiting on the last message from the Pyramids as Savathûn continues to corrupt the Tree of Silver Wings.

An Uneasy Future

With a little over a month until Beyond Light arrives, we are left with several questions in the air. Some in the community have datamined triumphs and dialogue from this seasons conclusion, but with the finale slowly approaching I won’t dive into that. What do Savathûn and her subjugates have in store for our guardian during the last interference mission? What part does our guardian have to play in the Witch Queen’s grand scheme come Fall 2021? I guess we will just have to wait and see what Savathûn’s true purpose is and if the Witch Queen is the true villain to our Guardian’s story.

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