Destiny 2’s first “Episode” has reached the end of Act 2, with more content and a stretched-out storyline compared to past seasons. The Vex-focused plot introduced the Conductor, a human-looking Vex figure, but the story structure has left players hanging until the sixth week of story content and the ninth week of the season. The first five weeks of the story revolved around Failsafe tracking radiolaria flows into Nessus and Saint experiencing an existential crisis. The audience already knew the evil being controlling the Echo, and Saint quickly overcame his crisis.
The surprise reveal in the sixth week was that the Conductor is actually Maya Sundaresh, a Vex researcher turned Veil obsessive turned Exo. Sundaresh, who was betrayed by her copy Lakshmi-2 in a past season, wants humanity to enter a golden age by giving the entire system over to Vex control and radiolaria infection. However, many players had already guessed that the Conductor was Sundaresh from the start, which may have diminished the impact of the reveal. The idea of making Sundaresh a Vex supervillain that players can converse with is seen as a positive storytelling move.
The author argues that the structure of the season should have been different, with the reveal of Sundaresh as the Conductor happening earlier in the storyline. This would have given Sundaresh nine weeks of story development instead of just a brief cutscene. Timegating and storytelling continue to be challenges in Destiny 2’s Episode format, with the current 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off structure being criticized as jarring. The upcoming plan of three weeks of story followed by five weeks of break is also seen as potentially problematic if there is no additional story development during those breaks.
The author acknowledges the challenges faced by Bungie in making decisions about storytelling and timegating in Destiny 2. Despite the issues with the Sundaresh reveal nine weeks into the season, the author is curious to see how things will progress in the next Episode. Destiny 2 players are encouraged to follow the author on social media platforms and check out their sci-fi novels, including the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy. Overall, the Season of the Rivals in Destiny 2 has presented both exciting moments and narrative challenges for players to navigate.
