Over a year ago, I made this theory about the Witness in regards to The Witness, Mara Sov, and the Distributary. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/262617280?sort=0&page=0]The Possible Origins of the Witness, and Mara Sov and the Distributary[/url] This theory was proven [b]false[/b], though some guesses about the Witness were proven correct. Namely, the Witness is a gestalt consciousness of its species, but the key difference is in the "how". Instead of a paracausal black hole, the Penitent harnessed the power of the Veil to "disassemble" and "reshape" their faction into the Witness, a being incapable of doubt and dissent, an act which lines up near-perfectly with another post I made here: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/263544160?sort=0&page=0]The Darkness and Purpose[/url]. [quote][i]"Taking involves reforming matter in a self-contained reality, where the creator defines past, present, and future; imagine how a more insightful being could expand these definitions, to different ends."[/i] In other words, imposing a singular purpose upon the target, remaking them into an entity solely devoted to the purpose they were made for, and obeying the will of whoever controls them. That is the process of creating the Taken.[/quote] As [i]Entelechy[/i] revealed, this perfectly defines the process that created the Witness, to the point where one could say the Witness is the original Taken. It also disproved my guess on why the Witness pursues the Final Shape, and the actual reason is arguably more terrifying than my original theory. It was a cultural ideology taken to a radicalized extreme. ---------------------------------- Now, on to the actual post. The Distributary was a universe born as a result of a collision of Light and Darkness creating a paracausal black hole. As Mara Sov was the first living being to fall into this paracausal singularity, she became the one who defined the rules of reality within the Distributary and defined how the Awoken would come into being. During the Gameplay Preview Trailer for Prismatic, there is a scene of Mara Sov reacting to what seems to be Prismatic energy in a peculiar way. My guess as to why she reacts in that manner is that [i][b]she has seen that kind of power before[/b].[/i] More specifically, it was the environment she found herself in after she first entered the Distributary. The force she used to shape it and the existence of the Awoken, and then gave up once the creation of the Distributary and Awoken was finished. The Awoken themselves are sometimes described as being born of Light and Darkness. As Prismatic and Transcendence confirm, there is a power born as a result of Light and Darkness being combined into one. So, it will be no surprise if or when Mara recognizes the nature of Prismatic and Transcendence in the [i]Final Shape[/i], now that the trailer confirms both she and Uldren will feature in the story. As far as the Witness and the Final Shape is concerned, there is something mentioned in the Gameplay Showcase and another in the Dev Insight Article about Prismatic that leads me to believe the Witness has gradually gained a power akin to Prismatic. In the showcase, this is said about Prismatic: "Getting Light and Dark and mastering it, no one's done that before. [i][b]The Witness is manipulating the energies like this[/b][/i], but the Witness is not a master of Light and Dark. You are." In the Dev Insight, this is mentioned about Transcendence: "Being Transcendent also allows you to break the shields of special combatants standing in your way on your journey through The Pale Heart of the Traveler. [b][i]These combatants have been bound by The Witness and are invulnerable to incoming damage otherwise[/i][/b]." I could end up being wrong, but it sounds like the Witness has already gained a semblance of Light power after its year and more within the Pale Heart and gained the Prismatic and Transcendence power for itself. It is not a master of Prismatic the way Guardians will be, but it has enough control to "bind" enemies with a protective force that can only be broken by Transcendence. In other words, the Witness is getting close to gaining the power it needs to enact the Final Shape, and Prismatic is the key to attaining that power. When we fight it in-game, we might even see it use Prismatic against us. To summarize: The collision of Light and Dark that created the Distributary may have given birth to an instance of Prismatic power, one which Mara Sov used to shape the Distributary and Awoken, and gave up afterward. It is possible that Mara will recognize Prismatic during the Final Shape, and we'll get a scene or storyline about that. Prismatic is the power the Witness requires to enact the Final Shape, and it may have already gained a degree of control over it by the time we enter the Pale Heart.