Apologies for the long post, but I hope it was well written. Zavala, I don't know what to say about you. You were the hype character for vanilla Destiny 2, and just like the game, you did not live up even close to the expectations that were set. The ending of Destiny 2, to say the very least, was a huge letdown for me. The characters constantly kept foreshadowing towards a characters death. Whether it was Zavala's fear of losing another guardian on Titan, All the dead guardians after the red war and even Ikora's inability to act due to fear of losing her "one chance." When I finished the campaign after pulling an all-nighter that fateful night, I was quite dissapointed with the end result. This felt like a blatant slap in the face of what I believed to be an example of "chekhov's gun." So how does one fix this terrible crime of an ending. To first understand it, we must look at the character of Zavala himself. Zavala has always been shown to be a man of the people. Whenever he was questioned about tactics and other decisions, he focuses on defending the people of the city more than that of the Traveler. This could not be more apparent than on the attack of the city during the Red War when Ikora tells him that the Red Legion was attacking the traveler. Instead of diverting forces towards protecting that giant ball we call "God," Zavala instead focuses on defending the tower until the last of the refugee ships were underway. In fact, his unwavering resolve to protect humanity is his one and only true character trait that survived the Destiny 1 - 2 jump. How I would have finished the campaign would have been to continue with the assault throughout the city, but have the members of the vanguard consistently come across death defying odds with astounding ease. Cayde would still have his arm shot off while setting up the portal, but I would have included a true "defend the point" where you and the other members of the vanguard have to fight off hordes of legion trying to break through. Once the portal is opened, you hit a small cutscene where the Red Legion are closing in on you, with Zavala having to shoulder charge you through before it closes. The only thing you would hear after being shoved through is the charging sound of a psion sniper followed by a yelp of pain. The end would continue the same as it did, except that there is no ghost communication between you and the ground troops. (perhaps there was a radio jammer.) With the ending instead having everyone surround commander Zavala's casket on the walls of the new city. The Speaker's words will echo throughout the ending as it does in our current copy, but instead of everyone smiling and collecting, instead, members of the funeral start to depart until it is only you and your ghost that is left. After a soft and sobering discussion with ghost about what the war has cost everyone. Ghost will decide that you probably require time to yourself as it fades way, panning away from your guardian as you softly whisper thanks and look at the Traveler with your hand on the casket. This would make for an excellent piece of storytelling as it would also build itself into the other characters. Ikora: Obviously shaken the most due to her fears of being the one that would die, she is soon given the role of Vanguard commander due to her experience within the tower. She may have a constant and irreplaceable fear of losing your guardian in the wilds as well. Cayde: This wisecracking son of a gun would probably continue using humor to lighten the mood, but it seems to take on a bit more of a darker tone. Instead of using clever wordplay, he begins to become more like Ghelelon and uses it to deflect from his feelings. Shaxx: After being Zavala's rival (ideological at least), Shaxx has trouble coming to terms with the death of his fellow iron lord. With the hole opened in the Vanguard command structure, Shaxx fills up the role of Titan vanguard, pushing guardians in the crucible, (especially titans) to remember a hero of the city and to never forget what one is fighting for. One final point that I want to bring up is that with Ikora in the position of Vanguard commander, it sets her up perfectly for the events of the Curse of Osiris DLC. In this, Sagira will be completely befuzzled with the now methodical actions of Ikora, to which she claims is the side effects of her new position. While meeting Osiris, she will tell him about the position she gained with Osiris giving a quick congratulations followed by sage advice to learn from those who have fallen, and they will never have truly died. From this point on, Osiris will act as an advisor to Ikora, not as a mentor. The Iron Banner may have had an emblem called Zavala's empathy. A quick gameplay point is that you will incorporate Strike rewards with Ikora alongside the meditations. Lorewise, meditations are Ikora's way of gleaning the important lessons Zavala taught from the Guardian's experiences during the Red War. tl;dr. Zavala's death would have lead to a quite creative change in tone for the always cheerful Destiny 2 alongside allowing for true character growth and improvement of many of the main NPC's in destiny. Please comment your opinions as I would love to discuss them! Edit: it has come to my attention that Lord Shaxx and Zavala are not, in fact, iron lords. The fact still stands that Shaxx and Zavala still trained quite a bit under the Lord Saladman and have been battlebrothers for years. Edit 2: Wow! I did not expect all of these responses. For those who may be reading this again, would you be interested in reading more of my remade scenes from D2? If so, please comment what scene you want next.