I got it. I think I finally figured out Destiny's story... or lore, or whatever you want to call it. I posted a similar theory closer to release (around the time of the Beta), so this is an updated version. Bear with me, and I will explain everything; the Traveler, the Darkness, and the strange a deadly creatures that occupy our solar system... the Fallen, the Hive, the Vex, the Cabal... all of them. Here we go: [b][u]The Darkness and the Traveler[/u][/b] [i]-Weapons created by the Cabal and the Fallen, meant to reforge solar systems for their master's needs.[/i] [b]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] I believe it the most logical conclusion is that both the Traveler and the Darkness came from the same source; perhaps designed as weapons by one of the four civilizations that now occupy our solar system. Get this; we know the Traveler has the power to create life. It turned Mercury and Venus into garden worlds; it made it rain on Mars for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years. In theory, if the Traveler can create life, then it can also take life away. The Darkness? We know it keeps ships from leaving our solar system. My guess is that the Darkness is actually composed of some kind of nanotechnology; trillions upon trillions of tiny robots outfitted with devices meant to disable or destroy spaceships that try to fly through it (the Darkness), like radiation and electro-magnetic field emitters. The Darkness and the Traveler together would make for the perfect tools for concurring a solar system; the Darkness would surround a system and prevent any ships from escaping as the Traveler went from one world to the next, wiping it clean of life and then restoring it so that it may be settled by the conquerors; in this case, whoever created the Traveler and the Darkness. But the Traveler, driven by a singular artificial intelligence, might have eventually tired of this purpose, and decided to defy it's creators; that's why it came to our solar system, and gave us the wonders of the Golden Age. It wanted a new purpose, to help another, younger civilization to grow and prosper, rather than help another, more advanced species to destroy and conquer. Which brings us to the creators of the Traveler and the Darkness... the Cabal. [i][b][u]The Cabal[/u][/b][/i] [i]-Allied to the Fallen, co-creators of the Traveler, inventors of the Darkness... and former masters of all who fell before it.[/i] [b]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] In the aftermath of the Collapse, the Cabal seem to be weathering the post-apocalyptic world better than the rest of the so-called "minions of the Darkness". We've all seen the might of the Cabal military juggernaut on Mars, which has practically been turned into a fortress-world... almost like a staging ground for a full-scale invasion of our solar system. My guess is that the Cabal created the Traveler and the Darkness as weapons for the purpose of dominating inhabited solar systems... and when they lost control of the Traveler, they had the Darkness surround the system as they closed in, to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Only the Traveler sacrificed itself to save us, driving back the Darkness and causing the Cabal war machine to grind to a halt. The other minions of the Darkness... the Vex, the Hive, and even the Fallen, are most likely minions or former slaves of the Cabal from their previous conquests. Which brings us to the next piece of the puzzle; the Vex. [i][b][u]The Vex[/u][/b][/i] [i]-Once part of the Cabal military juggernaut, now gone rogue, they struggle to contain the crisis that revolves around the Traveler.[/i] [b]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] It's possible that the Vex were once another cog in the Cabal war machine; my theory is that these machines would be sent back in time prior to occupying a solar system, to prepare it for an inevitable Cabal invasion... only like the Traveler, they went rogue. Perhaps their chains were broken after the Collapse, and now the Cabal are struggling to contain them on Mars. The Cabal definitely seem to understand the Vex better than anyone else, even managing to tap into their technology on Mars... like the Vex spire in their warbase, or the outpost near the gate to the Black Garden. Maybe it's because the Cabal are the ones who originally built the Vex? Now that the Vex are free to do as they please, it seems they are now pursuing their own purpose... as to what that is? It's anyone's guess; I would say their new purpose is containment. To take control of the current crisis so that neither the Cabal nor anyone else may misuse the Traveler's powers ever again. This theory comes from the names of the different Vex factions; the Hezen [b]Corrective[/b]. The Virgo [b]Prohibition[/b]. The Aphix [b]Invasive[/b]. These names suggest the Vex's purpose in control. Correction. Containment. Something along those lines. [i][b][u]The Hive[/u][/b][/i] [i]-Twisted by the Darkness, enslaved by the Fallen, consumed by hate a lust for vengeance.[/i] [b]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] I can only theorize that the Hive were conquered by the Cabal at the height of their power... and that they were mutated by the Darkness, and enslaved by the Cabal. This is why they are the fanatical, twisted monsters that we know them to be... and like the Vex, it's likely they were freed from their shackles after the Collapse. Now, it appears that the Hive want to start anew... by conquering our solar system. They've been seeding Earth for centuries, while they wait for their gods to return; they built the Shrines of Oryx for the purpose of communicating with something far beyond our system. Perhaps they are letting their brethren know that the Cabal war machine has been broken, that they've been freed, and that they've found a new planet to serve as their new home? That's my best guess; the Hive are one of the more alien of the forces of Darkness... it's hard to say exactly what they might be, or where they came from (or what Bungie's intentions are for Destiny's story). But this theory, I think is plausible. [i][b][u]The Fallen[/u][/b][/i] [i]-Allies of the Cabal, co-creators of the Traveler, once masters of the Hive... now at the mercy of their former subjects.[/i] [b]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] These beings were once a noble race, and many still where the banners and colors of their ancestral houses. Judging from their technology, the war machines they use against us, and their societal structure, I would hazard a guess that the Fallen were once allies of the Cabal. My theory? The Fallen were allied with the Cabal at the height of their power... they may have even helped to build the Traveler. They may have done as the Cabal had done, using the Darkness and the Traveler together to conquer one solar system after another... only to lose control of the Traveler and pursue it to Earth, where they came to the brink of destruction after the Traveler turned it's powers on them. Now, it would seem the Fallen are at the mercy of the races they once enslaved; the Vex on Venus, once used as machines of war by the Cabal, now trying to undo all that their creators had done... and the Hive, once slaves of the Cabal and Fallen, now seeking to take it all for themselves and exact revenge on their former masters. ************************************************************ Well... that's all I got. For now. Let me know what you think.