[Those that completed the Thorn quest or have spoiled themselves by looking at Ishtar Collective will already know this: Shin Malphur has been lying about his identity. Let’s uncover this.] ________________________________________________________ [Most of this info comes from the lore book „For every Thorn, a Rose“, so spoilers if you haven’t read it yet, it’s very secret. The book is comprised of letters written by Shinn Malpfur to our guardian. In the letters, he finally reveals what has really been going on between him, Yor and the Shadows. The conclusion most people drew after reading this book is that Shin is Dredgen Vale, a founding member of the Shadows. He realized that Yor wanted to be killed and that weakness leads to downfall, when one tempts the Darkness. He kept his Gunslinger identity as Shin to intimidate and eliminate those who went to far and fell complete into Darkness, while also looking for those strong enough to resist and became stronger in grey. But that’s pretty wrong. I honestly don’t believe how some could ignore the clear facts written in the book. Let’s look into it again to set things right. Faith in Monsters, lore entry [quote][i]I hunted Dredgen Yor for weeks, first alone, then at Jaren Ward‘s side. I was obsessed. Driven. I never hated the man. Still don’t. The difference between all the moments before I lit my fire and put rounds into the bastard and every moment since is what I learned from them. Yor never fired. Never even moved to draw. He just stood, straight and calm ‘til my infernal lead tore through him. Then he dropped.[/i][/quote] Interesting. So Yor seemingly never fired. Seems off. Why would a man so evil, full of Taken essence, mot fire? Maybe we already got our first clue already: [quote][...] I learned from them.[/quote] Who is “them”? A group, but who is in it? The Shadows? Doesn’t match the time. Other guardians? Unlikely. Let’s look at more clues. A Shadows’s Worth, lœre entry: [quote][i][...] But when Yor and I finally met on the flat, high cliff, I was ready, and, as I would come to experience, he wasn’t. I was ready to complete this final lesson, their final gift. A final push toward my true destiny. One that would put me at odds with heroes in order to ensure our worlds are filled with us. It was a path I was sure to Walk Alone, until I found others, until I found Trust.[/i][/quote] Again, very interesting. From this entry, it becomes very clear that Shin is in pain. He is confused. He’s also talking about finding Trust, a Gambit hand cannon, but this is probably irrelevant. He makes references to time. Combined with his pain, we can piece this together. The other lore entries from the book only increase the references to his pain. He tries to hide this by making up the fake story about being a Shadow, but that has to be ignored. What could possibly lead to pain, deteriorating health, identity problems? Remember the multiple references to “them”? Yes, I’m theorizing that Shin has been infected with radiolarian fluid and has been turning into a Vex mind. You might think that I’m joking, but I’m not. The Vex have been here before us, so the timelines match up. Shin says he later found out that Yor wasn’t ready, a reference to time travel, which the Vex possess. How could Shin be a founding member of the Shadows, when they were already around when he killed Jaren Yor? It really doesn’t make sense. With time travel and the collective intelligence of the Vex, we can fill the plot holes that have been popping up in Shin’s story recently. Think about it. But there’s one more piece of evidence that wanted to include, since I think it’s the most important one. While looking for evidence for this theory, I looked at old grimoire cards again. There I found this: Ghost Fragment, The Last Words [quote][i]I’m a Vex -S.[/i][/quote]] ______________________________________________________ [I hope you enjoyed this theory, I’m pretty new around here, so be easy on me, I haven’t read all of the lores yet.] Edit: For clarity, this was an April Fools joke Now laugh!