Hey everyone! Me again. Thought Id post another summary of the current state of things as they are right now in the Destiny universe before Rise of Iron. My last one went over rather well so I hope youll find this useful whether youre just starting out, coming back from hiatus, or just want to catch up :) enjoy! The Hive: Simply put, the Hive are in absolute chaos, or at least as much chaos as an insanely ancient species with sub ontological capabilities could be. Crota and his minions have been erased. His father Oryx, leader of the Hive (or more accurately, a very large part of it), his daughters, his entire court and leadership has been exterminated. To add to this, their Dreadnaught, the main base of Hive power in the system, has been badly damaged and is now infiltrated by Guardian and Cabal forces. The Hellmouth on the moon has been largely gutted and to make matters worse most of the Hive's more powerful servants (ie Telthor, Phogoth, the more powerful Wizards and Knights, etc) are dead. The power vaccum that Malok attempted to sieze has had a devastating effect on them and as of now remains unfilled. Still a threat, especially since the Taken are still appearing, but incapable of any major actions for the time being. The Vex: The Vex have experianced a large amount of setbacks, though due to the nature of the Vex its hard to really grasp the impact. They failed to mechanize and terraform Venus. They have lost a few Gatekeepers and their main seat of power, The Vault of Glass, has been gutted, with Atheon's loss a major setback to them. The Black Garden has been ravaged and the being we killed known as 'The Heart of The Black Garden' is, at least for now, dead. They have failed to stop both Guardians and the Taken from harrassing repair efforts and are now somewhat strained, struggling to adeqautley patch the hole created. Their forces in the system, far as we can tell, are hurting. While still a major threat, like the Hive they simply dont have the immediate capability to launch a major action. Worth monitering closely, but not losing sleep over. The Cabal. The Cabal have been, in a word, devastated. In fact, just about entirely annhilated. In a campaign similar to Napolean's against Russia, The Cabal have underestimated conditions, stretched themselves too thin, reacted insufficiently to changes in the strategic scope, and have failed to do any real damage or gain any real momentum. Their bases on Mars and Phobos were wiped out. Their entire command structure, including all of their Primus and Valus (roughly equal to Field Marschal and General, respectively) and hundreds of lesser officers have been killed, including their Psion Flayers (think intelligance officers) leaving them essentially blind, deaf, and dumb. Excursions to the Reef, Dreadnaught, and Mercury have ended in absolute failure. Their legions have been cut down to mere handfuls, all of which can not replenish loses and most of which are cut off from their supply lines. Inneffective tactics against very effective guerilla warfare by Guardians, surprise attacks from the Taken, and a brutal war of attrition against the Vex have brought them to their knees. The Cabal left are little more then a skeleton crew waiting to be finished off. They are incapable of any offensive action and barely holding their own defensive perimeters with exhausted, weary forces. The Fallen (per House) The House of Devils: Now hanging on by a thread, what was once the most powerful House on Earth has lost not one but TWO Archons, thier Prime Servitor, and their Kell. This, along with a myriad of unsuccessful endeavors, very strong Guardian offense, and the recent Taken attacks, have left them with more then one foot in the grave. Desperate, this House is likely to be dangerous by virtue of the fact that their back is against the wall. The House of Kings: This is now if not already the most significant Fallen threat in the system simply because we know very little about them, save that they have an interest in our Golden Age and tend to pull the strings of the other Houses from the shadows. Their Kell, Prime Servitor, and Archon are all well hidden, with a small number of Barons running things on their orders. It is known that they badly want the Travaler, and due to their secrecy its likely that they will make a move soon. The House of Winter: Another House that has all but collapsed, they have lost thier Kell, Draksis. Their Prime Servitor long dead, their valuable, crucial smaller servitors have been hit very hard. Their Archon is also dead, and after failing to join the House of Wolves, they are likely to fall and scatter from infighting. Currently not a threat, and likely not for a long time if ever again. The House of Wolves: With Skolas dead, Prime and Archon dead, their leadership and deadliest operatives dead, their supplies and infrastructure about gone, no known territtorial claims, and just a few lone wanders deperatly clinging to the name as they are pursued by the Reef and Vanguard, this House is essentially dead and is no threat. The House of Exile: Not really a threat to begin with, this House (if it can even be called that) has no real known leadership or supply point to make them dangerous. While its worrisome that the multitude of displaced Fallen from the other weak Houses may find their way here, theres no big threat from them of immediate concern. The Reef/House of Judgement The Reef has suffered extreme loses due to the House of Wolves' rebellion followed very closely by the Taken War. Among these are the majority of the Queen's fleet, which is the Reef's main military asset, the Queen, her brother, and her Techuens, who are possibly dead, but certainly MIA. Theyve also lost a large number of soldiers and material not easily replaced, which has left them vulnerable. House of Judgement has taken over as the spymaster and is aware of the issue, along with Petra Venj who has become the leader of the Awoken in the Reef, but the problem is not easily remedied. Due to the alliance between The City and The Reef, there is no threat that they pose to us. Theyve simply suffered harsh loses and will need time to replenish. The Nine Not a lot of information is availible and The Nine are, as always, mostly a mystery. However, they have been affected by the Taken War, at least to the extent that theyve suffered a weakened ally in The Reef (though the exact nature of their political relationship is hard to surmise, but seems, though strained, beneficial). They may have also suffered loses from the Taken/Hive directly, as the Jovians were passed by during The Dreadnaught's arrival, but this is as of now unconfirmed. Rasputin The Warmind of Earth is as of now best characterized as 'deeply anxious'. Due to a number of break ins from the Hive, the Taken, and the Fallen, and grudgingly increasingly dependent on the Guardians to save him, Rasputin is trying to bring this under control whilst also examing millions of win/lose scenarios as he searches for the best path to combat the Darkness. While he is yet to reach out to us and directly ally himself, he has been helpful in our securing of Golden Age Warsats, giving us schmatics and data to build weapons, and striking at our enemies to keep them off kilter. However, he is still very independant and makes it clear that he is not necessarily on our side so much as the side of existance in general. Currently capable of being a huge threat, but as of now he is more of a background figure with his own agenda. The City/Vanguard The biggest winners currently are us, and thats a very big and much needed change. We have arisen from the Taken War as the strongest force currently in the system, a point hard to argue for once. With the various enemy factions severly hurt and licking their wounds, The Tower and the Guardians who call it home have asserted themselves to be in a very strong position. This is capatilized by the slow but sure growth of the City's foundries and private sector, a resource boom due to the influx of both Guardian and private smart matter collection, along with a number of indicators of the Travalers growing strength and the increased number of Guardians joining already record ranks. Technological advancements and increased production capacity has made The City a crucial trade ally for The Reef as they rebuild. Ships are now being built from scratch instead of partially reconstructed Golden Age salvage, and if Eververse and the Factions are any indicator, the business strength of The City is growing too. This is the time to restock and prepare for the coming struggles, but also start shifting to a more offensive posture. The Vanguard has already seen huge gains; aside from the already listed loses inflicted on their enemies, theyve come under possession of more land and strategic locations, infiltrated The Dreadnaught, and have consolidated their intelligence and power to more effectively function as a proper military force and less of a rag tag group of advisors. We have come a very long way from a surrounded City huddling under a dying God as we wait for the final blow. Over a short time, weve really become the big winners of the recent conflicts, and hopefully we can maintain that momentum. Hope this guide helped! If I made any mistakes or missed anything major, just let me know and Ill fix it as soon as possible. Edit: A lot of people are confused or not reading, but either way let me clarify: this is CURRENT INFO KNOWN AT THIS EXACT MOMENT. Meaning SIVA isnt a relevent thing yet, the Cabal do NOT have reinforcements yet, no one else knows the Queen/Her Brother is alive yet, etc. This is an analysis of the current players in our solar system right now only.