It's time for a crackpot conspiracy theory! This one: Destiny is (very loosely) based on A Christmas Carol, the book by Charles Dickens. Let's start by saying humanity within Destiny isn't very nice. In the game we run around murdering aliens on the grounds that 'they're probably agents of the I identified Darkness because reasons.' Fair enough. But even in Destiny's so called 'Golden Age' was still very warlike. Weapons from the Golden Age like Icebreaker and Suros Regime clearly imply that the Golden Age had massive weapons production, and was thus probably still characterized by war. In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Bob, I mean Jacob, Marley. Marley warns him of three ghost who will arrive to show him the error of his uncharitable ways. At its base, the story is one of time travel. And selflessness. But mainly time travel. So, who is the ghost of Bob Marley? The Vex. The Vex flow through time differently, informing us that Destiny is also a story about time travel. They inform us that the ghosts we see are of past, present, and future. The Cabal are the Ghost of Christmas Past. They are, like Golden Age humanity, a vastly powerful space-faring race. The Ghost is described as bearing a bright candle. Note the Cabal centurions' floodlights. The Ghost of Christmas Present are the Fallen. They resemble the classical bug alien like the Ghost of Christmas Present resembles the classical Father Christmas. They are, like us, a once-great race who had owned the Traveller. Their society collapsed as well and, like humanity in Destiny, are forced to scavenge to survive. That we don't recognize how they are like us is ignorance, and their raiding is, like our raiding, fueled by want. Finally, the Hive are The Ghost of Christmas Future. This Ghost is associated with death, that of both Scrooge and Tiny Tim. The Hive have been referred to as Space Zombies by semi-official sources, and it's not hard to see why. They bear a close affinity with death and undeath. They represent our future. The Books of Sorrow state that they were once visited (or molested, maybe) by the Traveller long, long ago. They are long past the stage of collapse. They show what we could become in the future: monsters. I'd also like to point out that Destiny has 'Ghosts.' Just sayin'. So, what are they trying to tell us? I believe it's that we shouldn't be selfish with the Traveller. The Fallen clearly want access to it, and the Exos and Awoken most likely harbor some secret desire for it. We need to share the Traveller's power with everyone to establish peace. So, what then is the Darkness? Greed. Destiny's gameplay is driven by greed for stuff. Gjallarhorn, Mythoclast, other goodies. It's funny that, in our quest to stop the Darkness, we've become the Darkness. Thank you for reading.