So it is one of the biggest and most well kept secrets of the Destiny universe. Countless theories have been made on who the Nine truly are. Popular theories are that they are the Warminds from all the planets and another says that they are each represent an individual. I will put my own theory out for you fellow Guardians to ponder on. I do do my best to cite Grimoire Cards when writing this so without delay lets get into the meat of who the secretive little bastards are that let Skolas out. So there is only one Grimoire Card devoted exclusively to the identities of The Nine. This is Legends & Mysteries 2 and it states: The Nine are survivors of the cis-Jovian colonies who made a compact with an alien force to ensure their own survival. The Nine are deep-orbit warminds who weathered the Collapse in hardened stealth platforms. The Nine are ancient leviathan intelligences from the seas of Europa or the hydrocarbon pits of Titan. The Nine arrived in a mysterious transmission from the direction of the Corona-Borealis supercluster. The Nine are the firstborn Awoken and their minds now race down the field lines of the Jupiter-Io flux tube. The Nine are Ghosts who pierced the Deep Black without a ship and meditated on the hissing silence of the heliopause. The Nine are the aspects of the Darkness, broken by the Traveler's rebuke, working to destroy us from within. The Nine is a viral language of pure meaning. The Nine are the shadows left by the annihilation of a transcendent shape, burned into the weft of what is. Looking at this card, there are nine lines that I believe each describe a race/group of that are members of the Nine. With this assumption in mind let's look deeper and see who the Nine really are. First: The Nine are survivors of the cis-Jovian colonies who made a compact with an alien force to ensure their own survival. This card I believe reference that there is at least one human among the Nine. I believe this because Cis-Jovian involve the the planets within Jupiter's orbit. So, Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. And the compact that was made, was with the Traveler. The Traveler sacrificing itself for humanity in exchange the Guardians defend the Traveler until it has healed itself. (Just a theory) Second: The Nine are deep-orbit warminds who weathered the Collapse in hardened stealth platforms. This one is fairly simple state that the Warminds are members of the Nine. WARMINDS, I believe that all the Warminds as a group make up a piece of the Nine. So Rasputin is somehow tied to the Nine. Third: The Nine are ancient leviathan intelligences from the seas of Europa or the hydrocarbon pits of Titan. The Leviathan are creatures that have yet to appear in Destiny but are frequently mentioned in the Grimoire and the Book of Sorrows. Grimoire Card of the Book of Sorrows Number 8, titled Leviathan mentions these creature. These creature are thousands of years old and date back to the days of when Oryx was a girl. Seriously read the cards if you didn't know. The Leviathan actually tried to stop the three sisters from becoming the Hive we know today. The Leviathan in the card is able to clearly see that The Deep will turn them into, showing the wisdom of their age. While this Leviathan most likely not a part of the Nine. The card states that the Leviathan that are part of the Nine are on Europa a moon of Jupiter and Titan an moon of Saturn. Forth: The Nine arrived in a mysterious transmission from the direction of the Corona-Borealis supercluster. This one is very vague but the only known species that we know of any transmissions coming from that far out of our solar system is the Cabal. The Outbound Signal mission says that the Head of the Cabal Empire resides well out of our solar system. The only other option could be Oryx in the Shine of Oryx mission where we destroy the connection from the moon to Oryx. Personally I believe the it is the Cabal for this line and not the Hive as we will see them in later stanzas. Fifth: The Nine are the firstborn Awoken and their minds now race down the field lines of the Jupiter-Io flux tube. This clearly states that a specific group of Awoken are members of the Nine. Awoken that reside on Lo the moon of Jupiter. I do not understand the the portion of "their minds now racing down the flux tubes" and have not found any references to this. But this is still directly saying that there are Awoken in the Nine. Sixth: The Nine are Ghosts who pierced the Deep Black without a ship and meditated on the hissing silence of the heliopause. Read you Book of Sorrow Grimoire for this also. This almost states perfectly what female Oryx did. In order to give themselves immortality they went into the Deep and stood on the hull of an ancient ship and made their bargain for immortality. Seventh: The Nine are the aspects of the Darkness, broken by the Traveler's rebuke, working to destroy us from within. This card references that Fallen. Not well known that the Fallen did actually have the presences of the Traveler for a time. The Traveler ultimately left them causing the Whirlwind. To destroy us from within could reference Skolas's betrayal or even a future betrayal by Variks. Eight: The Nine is a viral language of pure meaning. Viral has two main definitions one pertains to medical viruses or in terms of being online such as a viral video. This case with the Rise of Iron being realease the two contenders for this spot of the Nine are the Vex and SIVA. I believe that this is the vex due to the fact that SIVA has been locked away for four hundred years. I say four hundred years due to the last time the gondola was used in the first mission of Rise of Iron. The last people to most likely use the gondola were the Iron Lords as they left to go fight SIVA for the last time. So the Vex are next to look at. The Vex have a single mind and are able to give meaning to just about anything. But it could also be sentient Exos that this is referencing also. So on this one i have a tie between Vex and Exo on this as it could be argued either way. Finally NINE: The Nine are the shadows left by the annihilation of a transcendent shape, burned into the weft of what is. This has to be the most loose definition for the Nine and I personally have not come up with a good one species that fills this slot in the Nine. So lets run through list of potential candidates. First of just by seeing the word transcendent i think of the hive, then upon reading this say that is is the shadow they leave behind I think of the echos of Oryx or the taken themselves this makes no sense though since Oryx is Hive and the Hive have already been listed. I also think of Xur as his his species is unknown. He is said to be Jovian (awoken or human) originally. But he has obviously been changed and his species or group could be the final people to hold this spot. The last choice could be the Exo Stranger because in her cutscene she says that she was not forged in light, yet still chooses to help. And also just walks away disappearing into thin air. Guardians please let me know what you think of this. If you have any fact to be checked or questions, please comment. Any changes, flaw. or what is your theory or the Nine and who they are. Alos give thsi an upvote so more will see it.