<As repeated numerous times over the past couple years, the Darkness has awakened and it's coming to Sol to finish what it started during the first Collapse. Essentially the Darkness cornered the Traveler at Earth and the last thing we heard from the Traveler was that it released a burst of Light. The first thing we heard after that was that the Darkness was pushed back and that the Traveler lie dormant, leaving a bit of time left untold. Today I'm going to take three major theories and put them on the chopping block to see which one makes more sense about what the Darkness has been doing for the past millennia and how they'll be when they get to Sol. [b]Army: Theory 1 - One or Two Races, No God[/b] This theory is based on the idea that the Darkness literally ARE the pyramid ships and what lies in them. What I mean is that there is no singular God of Darkness and the ships are all we'll get. They will be a race of Darkness-powered beings who want the Traveler gone and will stop at nothing to get rid of it. This theory is supported by the use of the word "they" on numerous occasions when talking about the enemies of the Collapse, but is directly contradicted by Rasputin and the Books of Sorrow, who refer to the Deep as "IT", a singular entity, which suggests that it IS one entity (unlikely due to the fleet), or one entity and an army of subordinates. If this theory is correct, then it is likely that the Darkness wasn't doing anything between the Collapse and now, just biding time, sleeping, or rebuilding/upgrading their arsenal. Their retreat would mean that they were significantly damaged during the Collapse or they lost a major leader of the armada. Their return to Sol would be interesting, as a race is more fallible than a God (big G), but their tech may make up for it, given it is the most advanced thing in Destiny as a franchise. They would be ruthless, and they'd be angry. [b]Theocracy: Theory 2 - One or Two Races, God[/b] This theory would separate the things that built the ships from the Deep itself, which is a singular entity as said by the BoS and Rasputin. This entity would be malevolent and would most likely lead the armada to glorious victory, but it makes their retreat from Sol make less sense as this God doesn't seem like one to simply back down. If this theory is true, the Deep itself is likely hidden away in the Mothership, which would explain its large size. The ships after the Collapse would most likely be sleeping, as the God wouldn't have hesitated to kill the Traveler in its sleep. This particular scenario would most back up the Balance Theory many believe in. [b]Desperation: Theory 3 - One or Two Races, Dead God[/b] This theory suggests that the race(s) in the pyramid ships lost their God, which would be the Deep as described in the BoS. This theory is rather controversial, mainly because the goal of the armada is then labeled as "needing the Traveler to resurrect their god", which is unbelievable to some. Here's why that would work. The armada would follow the Deep around, who is following the Traveler so it could kill it. The fleet would get to Sol and start the Collapse, spreading the armada around the system to inflict maximum damage. The Traveler would finally intervene, the first time in god knows how long, and the Light would be strong enough to kill the Deep. This would be a worthy reason for the entire armada to retreat at the end of the Collapse, as the death of something as ludicrously powerful as the Deep would surprise everyone, especially the race following it. Over the millennia, they'd grow desperate. Their entire time spent after the Collapse is wondering how their God was killed by something that had been running this entire time, with no intervention from the species it was protecting. The Darkness wouldn't be used to losing, so they spend their time upgrading and planning, and finally resting. Once they woke up, they would take the Traveler. But why then? Why not when the Traveler was dormant? Look what happened to Ghaul. Ghaul tried to take the Light while the Traveler was sleeping, and it waking up killed him instantly. Now the Traveler's awake, and the armada would come to Sol expecting the Traveler to defend itself. This scenario would break the Balance Theory a bit, but it would prove the God of Dark fallible, which is pretty critical to Bungie not writing themselves into a corner like BioWare did with the Reapers. This is also the scenario given by AnontheNine, or rather his Shadow, in the D3 leak (not the 4Chan one). If you want, please give your thoughts on why these would be or wouldn't be possible.>