A while ago I wrote an entry on the Forums, exploring the relationship between the Fallen, the Hive and the Darkness. In that thread, that became quite popular for a time (you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/nb/Forum/Post/77224413/0/0t]here[/url] ), I theorized that the Fallen seemed to be a once-higher race that had decayed. I got that idea because of the contrast in technologies they displayed: their warfare-oriented tech seems vulgar and unrefined, whereas the life-support and transportation tech seems quite advanced. It seems I got that right- but not for the right causes, because in my thread I pointed at the Darkness being the only responsible for their (pun absolutely intended) Fall. After the release of House of Wolves, here is what we know [i]so far [/i](data compiled from the Grimoire and comm talks from Variks and Petra): - The fallen were, indeed, a much more civilized and organized race. Their Houses lived in a harmony of sorts with one another. The Kells held the position of political leaders, whereas the Archons were religious leaders and did not intervene in warfare. When conflicts happened between Houses, there was a Fallen House that acted as arbiter and judge to settle these fights peacefully: the [b]House of Judgement[/b] (Variks appears to be the sole survivor of said house). - The Fallen [b]COEXISTED WITH THE TRAVELER[/b] for a period of time, before it arrived to our Solar System. The Grimoire entries shows Variks, Skolas and others mention the “Great Machine” and they accuse the City and the humans of “hoarding” it. They seem to have suffered their own Collapse too, and they call it “The Whirldwind”. Why the Traveler didn´t protect them as it did with humanity, we do not know. Either way, the Traveler abandoned them. - During the period previous to their Collapse, the Fallen had grown confortable with their situation. The cards mention that “Ether was flowing”. Ether is the substance that Fallen feed on to sustain their lives. For some reason I also suspect that, the more Ether a Fallen consumes, the bigger and more powerful he/she becomes. - After the Whirldwind (their own Collapse) the Houses temporally begun fighting each other for resources. It is at this point that the political and religious leaders (Kells and Archons) [i]turned into militaristic leaders[/i], basing their rule on force more than diplomacy. The House of Judgement loses their authority here and either retreats, or is practically wiped out. - The Fallen track the Traveler to Earth, attacking humanity (probably in the aftermath of the Collapse). At the beginning of the assault, the Houses were still divided. The Awoken were still a partial mystery for Earth and the Tower at this point. - Finding more resistance than they expected, the Houses of Devils, Kings and Winter join for an assault on Twilight Gap. - [b]Turning point:[/b] the House of Wolves (not yet led by Skolas at this point) was [i]about to join the assault,[/i] but they were intercepted by the Awoken as they attempted to cross the Reef. The Awoken managed to destroy a vast portion of the Fallen fleet, apparently using some sort of gravitational weapon to draw asteroids into their ships. The remains of the House of Wolves try to organize under Skolas after the previous Kell died, but they were defeated, and Skolas imprisoned in the Prison of Elders along with the Archon Priest, Aksor. The rest of the Wolves pledge their allegiance to the Queen. Without the Wolves and thanks to the defense established by the Vanguard and its Guardians, the Fallen are repelled but the counterattack is not strong enough to drive them away from Earth. Portions of the Houses remain on Earth pillaging what remains. We reach the “stalemate” point between Fallen and Humanity that we were brought into at the beginning of the game´s timeline. - The current status: either just before or right after the Heart of the Black Garden was destroyed, the Nine confronted the Queen about the incursion of the Crows (a espionage unit from the Awoken) into an area known as the Cauldron of Rhea, an area belonging to the Nine. To appall them, the Queen intended to give them a present: [b]Skolas[/b]. - Under circumstances that are still not known to us, [b]Xûr releases Skolas[/b], hinting that there is a motive or a reason behind it. Skolas gathers the remains of the Wolves, triggers the revolt against the Awoken and flees with his forces. At this point, the Queen calls us to help her crush the Wolves and capture Skolas. So where are we now? From the Grimoire, it seems that the Queen initially wanted Skolas dead, but after Variks and Petra detected the use of Vex technology by Skolas and his forces, she changes her mind and she wants Petra to capture Skolas and bring him back alive. Why? Perhaps she wanted to use that tech for herself. OR... There can be something else. I am going to thank Baconator119 for this piece, and I quote him: [i]"Skolas went completely crazy because when he was connected to the Vex Networks he could see the future, and he saw that in the future Oryx will come. He mentions the words "Darkness Binder" and "Light Snuffer." If I'm right about the order of the grimoire, after this she [The Queen] contacts Eris and Osiris. With the next DLC using Hive Symbols and being called, literally, "The Taken King", I believe it is save to assume that we will either face Oryx himself or another god in the Hive Pantheon that is much more powerful than Crota".[/i] If I missed something, please let me know. But I think this is mostly it. Quite a good story no? Epic, intriguing, schemes… if only we had cutscenes with it! [b]BY THE WAY:[/b] Many of you still keep the "Traveler is actually responsible for the Darkness" theory. I know that the Speaker and the Traveler were in doubt in the original version of the game, however, at this point it appears that said theory is non-canon. I have not included any references or consideration to it for that reason.