Line #12 TearJerker/Destiny


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iron_fall.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[SurvivorGuilt "Now I am all that remains."]]]]
3
4	* While it's a minor thing among a whole mess of awesome, the Live Action trailer for the game shows a group of Guardians coming across the site of the moon landing. It's been defaced by Hive. It really drives home how even one of man's greatest scientific achievements now belongs to the aliens.
5	* One of the Grimoire Cards contains a story about the war on the Moon between The Hive and Guardians trying to reclaim it. Thousands of Guardians got slaughtered by the Hive Princes. This is due to the Sword Of Crota powering the Princes up. You do get to avenge the Guardians with said sword, although you probably won't know about it, in-game.
6	--> '''Ghost''': The sword used to be the Hive's most powerful weapon.
7	* Banshee-44, former Exo soldier. He got re-formatted multiple times, yet he ''still'' remembers troubling memories of his past life.
8	* At the entrance to the Ishtar Archive on Venus, there are some skeletal remains of the scientists and lab personnel that worked there. [[TogetherInDeath Two of them are huddled together in an embrace]].
9	* If you read Grimoire entries, then you'll inevitably realize just how much of a DyingRace the Fallen (or, as Variks explains it, ''Eliksni'') are. It's hard not to feel sympathy for Variks when you learn his feelings about his race's place in the universe.
10	-->''The unfairness of it makes him want to roar. Why does everyone else have this patronage? Why do the Hive have gods and the Vex have sprawling time-bent minds and the Cabal have reinforcements? Why do the Awoken whisper to the stars and listen for the whisper back, the voices from the Jovians, the song in the dark? Why do the Guardians get the Great Machine’s blessing, was it like that before the Whirlwind, were there Fallen heroes crowned in Ghosts who strode the battlefield fearless and full of Light? Why do they tell stories about reclaiming the lost glory of humanity, and no stories about the lost glory of Variks’ people, the House of Judgment that once kept codes of dignity and law? Why can’t the Fallen have that strength? But no, that strength is not for them, not for Variks. Just this bleeding, sad pragmatism. Just dreg strength. Hanging on.''
11	* Cayde-6 is wearing Andal Brask's cloak. It's not the same cloak, but the description of the Hardcase Cloak is "If you learn nothing else, learn this: when a Hunter takes up the cloak of a dead comrade, this is a vow."
12	* "Ghost Fragment: Thorn 3" details Dredgen Yor's final conversation with his Ghost.
13	** It starts off with a dose of WhatTheHellHero, then it becomes a huge TearJerker as the poor Ghost tries to appeal to the hero he raised long ago, still calling him by his former name, but Yor insists ThatManIsDead. Yor considers his "last good deed" to be freeing his Ghost from his company, and tells the Ghost that when talking about him, to refer to him as Dredgen Yor. The Ghost says that he will always be his original name to him. That's the real knife twist in this story: the Ghost will always know Dredgen Yor as the hero he once was, but because his real name was [[TreacheryCoverUp redacted]], we will never know who he once was.
14	-->'''Dredgen Yor:''' When you speak of me, use my proper name. Tell them of the man that stands before you, not the ghost of the hero I once was.\
15	'''Ghost:''' You will always be [REDACTED] to me.
16	** A new Grimoire Card for Thorn and The Last Word each look into the events surrounding Dredgen Yor's death. The Thorn card transcribes a conversation between Yor and Jaren Ward's Ghost, ending with the Ghost dissecting Yor's motives and actions (in particular, giving back The Last Word for Shin Malphur to wield), and insinuating that [[DeathSeeker what's left of the man Yor was seeks to die by Shin's hand]]. The Last Word card details Shin Malphur's growth from a scared child to a Guardian and finally avenging Jared Ward as Yor taunts him over his murder. He then realizes that Yor never touched his Thorn.
17	-->'''Shin Malphur''': I looked down at the dead man who had caused so much death.\
18	My shooter still embraced by the dancing flames of my Light.\
19	[[VengeanceFeelsEmpty A sadness came over me.]]
20	** A new Grimoire Card released during the Age of Triumph and found at the edge of the Hellmouth during Crota's End finally reveals the man Dredgen Yor used to be. He's '''''Rezyl Azzir''''', one of the most celebrated and heroic protectors of the Last City, essentially founding the Guardians as we know them. Corrupted by the Hive's magic when he stuck some Knight bones onto his beloved hand cannon Rose, he eventually became [[FallenHero the most reviled and feared individual in the City's history, with his name forever redacted and his new title of Dredgen Yor remembered with disgust and shame]]. As for Rose, it became none other than [[EvilWeapon Thorn]].
21	* With the release of ''The Taken King'', it is possible to find Eriana-3's dead Ghost in the Stills. With her last recorded message, she came to realize that her plan was AllForNothing: it wasn't justice she was seeking, it was vengeance for Wei Ning, and all it accomplished was getting more good Guardians killed. In her last moments, Eriana-3 asks her Ghost to leave her and take a message to where Wei Ning died on the Moon, begging the spirit of her friend to forgive her actions.
22	* Rescuing Praedyth, a Guardian thought to have been erased from reality, from the Vault of Glass is a massive punch to the gut. Due to the vault being an amalgamation of countless timelines, Praedyth can talk to you and warns of a Taken threat in the Vault. But when you slay the boss and attempt to find Praedyth, he speaks saying that his signal is going to cut out and screams to you that he once existed and lived as a Guardian. When you finally discover the source of the signal, you discover the bleached bones of the Praedyth. Because of the Vault messing with time, he's long dead and there was no way for the Guardians to save him. You succeed in keeping Oryx's Taken from accessing the power of the Vault, but even then this doesn't feel like a true victory. The only smallest victory is that the Guardian and all of the Vanguard finally realizes that a man called Praedyth existed and that he is finally remembered. While Praedyth is technically alive, wandering through time in the Vault of Glass, and later gives you the key to the Exotic pulse rifle No Time to Explain, this revelation isn't 100% heartwarming. His ghost has remarks that, to entirely paraphrase, time is basically an inescapable villain that gnashes at you for as long as you live. Note that ''[[WhoWantsToLiveForever her Guardian is effectively immortal]]'' [[AndIMustScream and trapped in a place where he has almost no communication with the outside world, only the ability to view pasts and futures, some of which were dead for various reasons.]]
23	* In the Hunter Class Quest to unlock the Nightstalker subclass, Cayde is [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically panicked and worried]] for his old friend Tevis which he tries to hide under his usual snark. You find his body, and Cayde sounds very quiet as he guides you to finish the quest. He reminiscences about being present when Tevis first picked up the bow and requests you take good care of it at the conclusion. And when the Vex arrive, he has this to say:
24	-->'''Cayde''': Take them out, Guardian. ''[[TranquilFury Make them pay.]]''
25	* Your Ghost's description of his birth and search for you in ''The Taken King''. As it turns out, he was born right when the Traveler died and was built to find you specifically. [[TheWoobie He had actually been searching for you for centuries and was forced to watch as all the other Ghosts found their Guardians before him, causing him to believe he would never find his and be alone forever]]. Turns into a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment\|s}} at the end, when he mentions how he found you and sounds as if he's been completely filled with hope.
26	-->'''Ghost''': "''As I saw the other Ghosts find their Guardians, and the centuries went by, I wondered if I would ever find you.'' ''[[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments And then, I did.]]''"
27	* If you dig into Oryx's backstory you'll find that he used to be a kind and noble warrior and heir to his father's throne, who aspired to lead his people into an era of peace. But than a betrayal within the kingdom and a coming cataclysm led to his father being murdered, his kingdom fracturing, and him and his sisters fleeing into the gas core of their homeworld. There they found a strange group of [[BigBad darkly colored worms]] who spoke of how they had been held there by [[BigGood that big round machine in the sky]]. [[StartOfDarkness And they offered Oryx and his sisters a deal]]. Before he became Oryx he was given a vision of what he would become and what he would do in the future. It horrified him so much that he fainted.
28	* In the Books of Sorrow when Aurash is confronted with what she ends up becoming.
29	--->''“Where are my sisters?” Aurash shouts. “What have you done with my people? What have you done?”''
30	* Oryx's rage against humanity during ''The Taken King'' can become this upon the realization that it's driven not only by his own destructive tendencies, but [[OutlivingOnesOffspring by his guilt as a father]].
31	-->''"Where is my son? Where is Crota, your lord, your princely god, your godly prince? Tell me no lies! I feel his absence like a hole in my stomach."''
32	* Petra Venj of the Reef [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take well]] to [[NeverFoundTheBody the Queen's defeat and subsequent disappearance]] at the hands of Oryx and his Dreadnought. The Vanguard are worried she may go down the same path as Eris Morn who, despite firmly being on the side of the Guardians, is hellbent on exacting vengeance on the Hive by any means. She gains a slew of new lines that show that, despite being in good enough shape to direct operations against the Taken, she's lost much of that positive energy that made her a fun MissionControl against Skolas and the Wolves.
33	-->'''Petra Venj''': (when you talk to her) "''[[IWillFindYou She's still out there...]]''"
34	* ''The Taken King'' manages to inspire sympathy for the ''Cabal'' of all people. During the Shield Brothers strike, Cayde-6 cheerfully explains how when the Cabal go to war, deployed soldiers are "kicked out of the Empire" and can't go home until they win. This paints previous Grimoire entries in a new light, especially mentions of the heavy casualties they've suffered against the Vex and Guardians, and the "dogged, weary determination" they fight with despite their long, grueling deployment. No matter how bad the campaign goes, the Cabal ''have'' to keep fighting, because their only choices are go home victorious or die in exile.
35	* The Grimoire card for the Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost provides some sad backstory for Eva Levante, of all people. It depicts Eva's proposal to Ikora to hold the event, with the mention that Eva lost her family on the way to the City. It ends on a heartwarming note with the notion that the people of the City recognize the Guardians' efforts, and their own losses in the past.
36	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39jvouEt44s The official launch trailer is nothing short of awesome as hell]]; yet it shows that, underneath that iron skin, Lord Saladin is deeply affected by the [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice of his comrades]], sprinting frantically back to Jolder and screaming desperately as she closes and welds the bunker shut with the SIVA virus with her, and is left futilely punching the door in grief. In a sense, the monthly Iron Banner events aren't just a way of honoring his comrades through [[TrainingFromHell forcing Guardians through intense training with each other]]; he sincerely doesn't want himself or others to make that kind of sacrifice again.
37	** The intro cutscene proper shows both of their expressions as the sacrifice is made. As Saladin is screaming in his mad dash to save her, Jolder is [[FaceDeathWithDignity trying desperately to put on a brave face]],[[FreezeFrameBonus but the little movement in her eyebrows gives away her true feelings]] as she presses the detonator to destroy the SIVA replication chamber. Jolder isn't happy or even proud to do this. If there was another way, she would gladly take it. But it is the only thing she can do...
38	** Proceeding through the story campaign reveals that this didn't even actually destroy the replication chamber, only damaged it. When you enter the chamber itself, you see three human bodies horribly profaned by SIVA's tendrils. Saladin sounds in borderline despair upon discovering that not only [[SenselessSacrifice were his comrades' sacrifice in vain]], [[FateWorseThanDeath but also that they had probably been suffering in hellish agony all these years.]] Then SIVA forces them to try and kill you. One of these bodies is Jolder... The only solace in this is that it's you who finally [[MercyKill puts them to rest]], and in a way that they would have [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].

Context TearJerker / Destiny