With the vessels they needed, the Ishtar Collective and Rasputin began their projections. However, as they tried to send their own projections, the Vex counter-attacked with their own. Visions of futures where the Darkness had prevailed, a City had fallen, and numerous other atrocities. Seeing these projections, the Ishtar Collective group in Siberia eventually turned against the Traveler due to the hopelessness that seemed to be the only outcome. The Binary Star Cult was born. Meanwhile, Rasputin also began to lose against the complicated projections set by the Vex, and he began to see hopelessness as well. These events may have been the stepping stones toward the Collapse, as there is a very plausible theory that Rasputin caused the Collapse. You can further investigate this in the forums as well as in Rasputin's Grimoire, as I will not elaborate here. I will rather come to a close on this thoery. With the failed efforts to stop the Vex projections, many believed that the Vex's projections were becoming reality as they created multiple parallel universes, fragmenting true reality, bending timelines, and ultimately changing the course of the universe. Through this shattering of realities, many things about the universe changed. Species were displaced such as the Fallen, Hive, and Cabal. The Fallen were once a proud race, but they became scavengers just trying to survive by conquering. The Hive were dark forces that fed off of Light from the Traveler, and had long pursued it through the universe. The Cabal were a military force to be reckoned with, but they also had a culture, a history. As powerful as they are, they are terrified of the Vex, knowing full well of their power over space and time. THIS was the Collapse of not only the Golden Age, but the very fabric of space and time. It does seem pretty hopeless, doesn't it? However, there is still hope. The Exos involved in the projections must have experienced some malfunction inside the Device. What probably happened was that the Exos became infused within these projections, these parallel universes, and gained the limited ability to traverse between the parallels. The Exo Stranger is but one of at least fourteen Exos who are working to destroy the Vex. That is why the Heart of the Black Garden must have been destroyed. Not only did this cause Light to return to the Traveler, this caused the resurrection of true reality. The various parallel universes were destroyed, and now the fight becomes even between the Vex and the Exos. When you see the Stranger in the end, she remarks how all ends are beginnings and that her fight is far from over. This supports the theory that the war is not for eternity. Ever since the beginning of the universe, Light and Darkness have been at war, never seeing any end in sight. Now that the universe is restored, the fight finally has an end in sight. Whether it be Light or Darkness that prevails, that will be determined by the outcome of the coming war. The only question is: Will you be there to fight it? Thank you for reading this waaaaaay too lengthy post. I didn't imagine this theory to expand so large, but everything connected the further I dug into the research. Remember, this is purely speculation and just a theory, but it is what I think is the most possible situation. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts if there are any. :) Thanks again, Guardians. I will see you starside.