<The Taken... pesky, annoying, enslaved users of Darkness that the general community dislikes fighting. Does one know the process of how one is Taken? When someone is ripped out of this dimension and brought before the Deep itself, who offers them salvation. They take this metaphysical knife and watch as their wills are forced from their bodies and replaced by the will of someone else... the one who has Taken them. Before, it was Oryx. Now, it is Savathun and Quria. When one is Taken, the amount of their will left behind is totally dependent on the one who leads them. Oryx let these individuals (Quria, Riven, Malok) retain some, if not all (Riven) of their will. Malok, Thrall son of Savathun, sent to take Oryx's power in secret. Alas, Malok grew greedy and took the power for himself, which led to his discovery. Quria, Vex Mind conjured to deduce the Sword Logic, Taken after attempting to simulate Oryx, a task which then proved too complex. Riven, an Ahamkara locked away. Oryx did not want to use Riven, for even he knew how dangerous Ahamkara were, but he was not clever enough, and Riven's hidden power was one of many factors that led to his demise. Malok was killed after attempting to usurp the Taken throne after Oryx was killed. Riven was also killed physically, but as Ahamkara are, she now lies in her bones and her heart. Quria is still with Savathun, presumably learning the secret to Oryx's complexity through its own newfound power of Darkness. Now it can be considered a Taken-producing battery that Savathun must recharge herself as she controls the army it makes. The amount of will an individual has left is not determined by how much Blight covers them. While Malok and Riven do not have Taken energy flowing on them like most do, other Taken also appear half-Blighted, but are nothing without someone to control them. Grask, the Consumed, is one such individual. The Techeuns are another example, lost without Oryx and only given purpose with the rise of another Taken Monarch. Thought it's interesting how anyone can control the Taken, even other Taken, as long as they have power. Malok was Taken, but managed to lead them on the Moon. Small bands of Taken on Venus got together and raided the Nexus in order to take down or Take the rebuilt Sekrion. Mere months after these events, Savathun was confirmed to have taken over the Taken after they arrived on Io. Since then, they've been more coordinated than ever. They lead constant assaults on the Vex on Io thanks to Savathun (and Quria?)'s bidding. They are the primary force behind the war on the Dreaming City, once more under the direction of Savathun. So why do I vouch for their freedom? Because they are a crutch for the Hive, and unwillingly so. When the Hive's crusade reached the Ecumene's doorstep, they fought back. At first, the Ecumene couldn't compete with this threat, but Taox's cryopod just happened to fall in their laps. She told them how to beat the Hive, and the Ecumene used a wide range of tactics to push them back. The Hive grew desperate, their Worms chewing on them from within. Savathun, Xivu Arath, and then-Auryx gathered in the latter's Throne World and deduced a plan. After killing his sisters and Akka, the Worm God of Secrets, Auryx spoke to the Deep itself. He came back as Oryx, the Taken King. The Ecumene were wiped from existence and Oryx's sisters were resurrected through his bloodshed and deception. Years later, Oryx's idiot son Crota opened a wound in this Throne World, allowing the Vex into the Ascendant Plane. Quria was made, and Warrior Vex ascended through the Sword Logic. The Hive and Vex battled to a stalemate, until Oryx came back and Took them. The Vex were ravaged by this hidden strength. This fact was still true centuries later when Oryx's Echoes would've killed the entire Network if left unchecked on Venus. Even the Divisive in the Garden were against the Taken despite their worshipping of the Darkness. The point is, the Hive would've been wiped from existence eons ago if the Taken hadn't intervened. The Ecumene would've destroyed them and the Vex would've overrun the Throne World eventually due to their seemingly-infinite numbers. It's time we give the Hive a taste of their own medicine. This isn't about the "how" of this matter. Whether Quria eventually leads the Taken to their emancipation from the Hive or we sever them from Savathun another way, we kinda have to do this. With Oryx dead, we have effectively a third of the Hive on the run or dying. Savathun and Xivu won't help them, but they are both leading armies in this system. Together they bring the rest of the Hive as a species, and that's not going to end well especially when you factor in the Taken. If we separate them from each other, the Hive army will be dealt with quickly as the Taken will no longer be subject to their will. They'd create an unimaginable opening for Guardians, who'd only need to worry about Savathun and Xivu at that point. We'd bring the Hive down so low that even the Fallen would pity them. The Taken would be free from their enslavement. The Vex could get their revenge on the remaining Hive. This would leave the remaining Taken in an odd place, though. Taken Cabal and Fallen having to deal with the fact that they could never return to their respective races, potentially united under their common ailment. Taken Hive eaten away by their Worms or just generally upset. Taken Vex separated from the network, hoping (maybe in vain?) that they could rejoin. They, too, would be broken. Yet, perhaps they'd want to eventually take up arms and fight against that which stole them from themselves. The Hive were only part of the problem, after all... [b]TL:DR[/b] - local nerd describes how Taken are Taken, then rambles about why the Taken would kick the asses of their Hive overlords if freed.>