Destiny 2
I have been less than convinced about the need to bring Cayde-6 back to Destiny 2 after his era-defining death in Forsaken. It came across like a bit of a gimmick to hook into nostalgia, complete with Nathan Fillion returning to the role for the first time since vanilla D2. But now? I think I’m sold.
That’s because of a new, Cayde-narrated trailer that’s just been published for The Final Shape, which includes much of the new information that Bungie revealed about the Prismatic subclass and new enemy race, the Dread.
Cayde-6 is no longer in comic relief mode, and it’s probably some of the best dialogue we’ve heard from him. You can check it out in the trailer below, but I’ll also transcribe.
“When I woke up in this place, I almost could have believed it was paradise. I feel the light flowing through me, it’s everywhere. The ground beneath my feet is a memory. So is the grass, and the sky. The warmth of the sun on my face. Around every corner, every familiar hallway, I keep expecting to see you.
But instead, corruption. A blight. Sickness, spreading through the Traveler. Because the Traveler’s where I am, isn’t it? This disease, I can feel it too. Something in the pit of me knows it won’t stop after it’s consumed this place. You, me, the entirety of everything and everyone we know. He wants to infect it all. We gotta stop what’s happening here. Now. Before it’s too late.”
Yeah I really, really like “not trying to be funny” Cayde. I mean, Nathan Fillion has always been excellent, but I’ve never heard him do line delivery like that before, great stuff.
It is not entirely clear what Cayde’s exact role in the story is here, though it seems like he’s sort of our Virgil guiding us through the inferno and paradise inside the Traveler. I guess you could read it literally, like this is where Guardians go when they die, but it feels more like he’s some sort of manifestation of our memory, like so many other things inside the place which will retread old areas and battles. I doubt he’s going to be sticking around after this, in other words.
Bungie has successfully elevated Final Shape hype with its recent reveals and trailers like this one. Community sentiment is in a good place with the fun Into the Light content that’s currently running, and it seems like it’s full steam ahead to the expansion, which Bungie is hoping will be its best and most successful of all time. They kind of need it to be. I’m not sure what else they can do at this point, as it seems like they have thrown everything they possibly can into it, Cayde included.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.