Surely by now, you've heard of the darkness. We know it's a sort of cosmic force that is trying to consume the big ball over our city which we know as the traveler. Many a time, we have wondered what the Darkness really looks like. There have been several theories that have attempted to put a face to it. Today I hope I can contribute to that effort. Let's get started. The cards I'd like to lay out on the table are as follows: [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/the-darkness]The Darkness[/url], [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-rasputin-4#rasputin]Ghost Fragment: Rasputin 4[/url], [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/the-taken]The Taken[/url]. To put this bluntly, I think the Darkness has powers similar to Oryx's ability to take, but it's more powerful. Where'd I pull that from? Well, consider this. Rasputin says the darkness "Inhabits its petitioners." That's a very odd phrase, but consider what it literally means. The Darkness inhabits the ones who oppose it.[spoiler]And yes, I know it also means one who supports something, but given the fact the darkness has similar traits to the taken, I feel like it's hinting more towards "opposition" instead of "supporter".[/spoiler]Pujari's position claims that the darkness is a change in conduct, or a sort of corruption. This kinda fits the description of the taken. They aren't a whole new species, they're just another species that was transformed by dark powers. Under the influence of the taken power, the taken spread their blight to infect others until all their people are taken as well. And in the card "The Taken" Ikora says that the taken power is similar to the power we faced in the black garden. Assuming the black heart was a relic of darkness, this would be a shut and done case. Now then, let's take this even further. As you know, there's been a few guardians that have gone "rogue". Dredgen Yor was one of the more dangerous of those rogues. Yor went into the darkness and returned. No one suspected anything bad to become of him, but then without warning, him and his thorn killed several guardians in cold blood.[quote]...A corruption that emerged from within and poisoned our golden age.[/quote] On another note, we made the exos to defend ourselves during the collapse. One has to wonder, why did we need to wipe their memories sometimes? Well, get a load of this. [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-legends#deep-stone-crypt]Ghost Fragment: legends[/url]:[quote]...None of them will tell you that the army is made of [b]everyone we meet[/b]. The people we work with and the people we see in the street and the people we tell about our dreams. [b]We kill them all[/b].[/quote]In order to reach this "tower" in their dreams, they have to fight an army made of everyone they know. Why? Why would the people, that they were made to protect, be the ones they have to fight? What if I told you it's part of their old subroutine (the Deep Stone Crypt). Instructions to kill those who have been infected by the darkness. Or maybe have a plan to kill everyone they meet, in the event they become infected. Now, I can't give you a detailed picture of the darkness itself, but given that it's power is similar to that of the taken, we can take a decent guess. It corrupts things and people. It slipped a poison into our golden age. It turned our own people against us. Why haven't we discovered the bodies belonging to the army of darkness? Because it's army was made of our own people. Perhaps the reason why our powerful warminds couldn't beat the darkness, is because they were designed to protect humanity. But what happens when the enemy [b]is[/b] humanity? Rasputin knew what to do. Hide, then figure it out. The others died because they couldn't process it. [b][u]TL;DR:[/u][/b] The darkness is like the taken, but better. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. That is the nature of theories. Either way, I hope you enjoyed.[quote]Back to master thread: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/205238605[/url][/quote] Cheers :D