Greetings Guardians, today I am bringing you a theory about the new Taniks Perfected strike. In the lore community, the Taken King and Dawning reprised strikes are generally regarded are non-canon, due to their lore-breaking and contradictory nature. But of the three new strikes added in The Dawning, Taniks Perfected is the most plausible, and that’s why we’re going to be looking closer at the way it could fit into the lore. First though, a little background on Taniks. Taniks, the Scarred is a Fallen mercenary who isn’t loyal to any house. While not confirmed, it is theorized that Taniks was once part of the dissolved House of Scar. Once, a Kell docked Taniks by cutting off his arms. Taniks built new arms and killed the Kell with them. This was the beginning of Taniks self-experimentation. In the time that followed, Taniks would replace nearly his entire body with robotic ones, including his heart and lungs. He believed that by becoming machine, he was becoming basically a demigod. It was this belief that later led to the formation of the splinter Fallen House known as the Devil Splicers. However, Taniks was not wholly machine. Like Aksis, he retained his Eliksnicity with his knowledge of Fallen rituals, titles, and challenges. His body may have been machine, but his mind was not. Taniks was hired by the Fallen House of Wolves to infiltrate the Hellmouth with Wolf forces and steal dark Hive magics so the Fallen could use them as well. A Guardian fireteam infiltrated Wolfship Kaliks-syn and put an end to Taniks once and for all. Or so we thought. [quote]Satellite sensors confirm your termination of Taniks. Yet a strange signal began to broadcast from there after you left." —Petra (House of Wolves Shadow Thief quest)[/quote] I believe that moments before his death, Taniks managed to somehow transmit his mind and consciousness into the Fallen Ketch. Interesting enough, we see mention of this strange signal again, much later. [quote] Ghost: “Strange. I’m picking up a Fallen distress beacon.” Variks: “Guardian. This is Variks. Detected signal. Detected you. Ketch out of Fallen hands. Watch your back.” (Lost to Light alternate ending dialogue)[/quote] Hmm. The Ketch is out of Fallen hands, yet a strange signal is broadcasting from it anyways… how could this be? Much later, the Devil Splicers invade the again derelict Ketch. Using SIVA, they create a new body for Taniks, the Scarred. Taniks transfers his consciousness into the new body and, out gratitude for the Splicers and because they share the same beliefs, he joins their ranks. What happens after that? Well, you’ve all played the reprised strike. We storm Kaliks-syn again and put an end to the reborn mercenary. At least, hopefully we did.