Recap / Destiny 2 Season Of The Witch

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With Savathun dead, but withholding vital information on the Witness, the only way to move forward is to contact her ghost Immaru. The rules become clear: he will not revive Savathun unless they defeat Xivu Arath. Unfortunately, as learned in, Season of the Seraph, the Hive God of War is empowered through conflict so they cannot confront her directly. Eris develops a different strategy...using Hive magic to warp herself into a companion God of War to leech that power for themselves.

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Season of the Witch contains examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: Nadir and Cassoid are revealed in this season to have never stopped working on standard weaponry; in fact, every generic City weapon in the game is actually one of their creations. As a result, all of these guns have been reissued with new perks and origin traits.
• Abhorrent Admirer: When she realizes what Eris is doing, Xivu Arath actually becomes one of her biggest supporters, overjoyed that Oryx's killer by proxy has finally embraced the sword logic. (Being Hive, this support means sending her forces to kill her.) Eris, of course, is having none of it, and rejects the idea that she accepts Xivu Arath's philosophies in any way.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: Much like how Savathun was a god of deceit and Xivu Arath is one of war, Eris becomes one herself. Her concept? Vengeance.
• Badass Boast:
  • Savathun attempts to charm Eris upon being revived again. Eris' response before killing her?
  Eris Morn: I am your ruin.
  • Eris also drops one that doubles as a "Reason You Suck" Speech towards the Hive and their Sword Logic as she severs Xivu Arath from her Throne World.
  Eris Morn: Hear me, dead things. I let this moment pass unnamed, without song. This is the rejection of your sad legacy. Xivu Arath, agitator, fomenter. What a world-cyst you have built from your conquests. No more. Now and forever, you are banished. Aiat.
• Back from the Dead: Given the rampant Death Is Cheap in the Destiny setting, it was never a question if Savathun would be resurrected by Immaru. Eris takes advantage of Savathun's Resurrective Immortality to kill her and assimilate the sword logic tithes she's kept for millennia, which allows her to cut off Xivu Arath from her throne world. Savathun is resurrected again shortly after, to provide the necessary tools they have been looking for.
• Baddie Flattery: When Savathun is resurrected again, she sees Eris' Hive God form for the first time, and apparently takes a liking to it, saying it looks good on Eris.
• Barrier Warrior: A Strand Aspect introduced in this season called Weavewalker turns Strand Warlocks into an absolute tank with 90 percent damage resistance and moderate movement speed but no access to weapons, abilities or interaction options (chests, revives, objects). In the crucible there is no single-shot weapon capable of killing them.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: The central premise of the season is about imitating the Hive in order to defeat them: their magic, their sword logic, and their tithe system. The seasonal exotic, Ex Diris, is basically a Hive Boomer while it and the Hunter exotic arms Mothkeeper Wraps spawn Hive exploding moths.
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: The seasonal weaponry has earth-made weapons altered to look bone-white with golden accents and spikes.
• Body Horror: Eris becomes a grotesque fusion of Hive chitin over her body, resembling Savathun but retaining more human proportions. The camera makes sure to linger over her body as it's twisted and altered to make her look like a freakish hybrid of human and Hive.
• Brought Down to Normal: Hive Gods are not simply granted with extreme power but every kill they make extends the size and power of their throne world, a realm in the ascendant plane that allows them to cheat death should they be killed in the physical plane. This has been shown with Crota and the Hellmouth, Oryx and the Dreadnought, Savathun's Throne World destination and Mara Sov manufactured a similar one explored in The Shattered Throne dungeon. Eris becomes powerful enough as a Hive God to sever Xivu Arath's connection to her Throne World, meaning she no longer has an escape plan and is functionally mortal now.
• Bullying a Dragon: Immaru continues to mock the Vanguard and Eris while standing right next to the Young Wolf. If it wasn't for the fact that he's the only one who can resurrect Savathun, he would have been crushed like any other Hive Ghost.
• The Bus Came Back: After trying to resurrect Oryx in Ghosts of the Deep, the Lucent Brood return in full as a major antagonist for this season. Savathun herself is resurrected by Immaru in the final story week, killed by Eris to acquire her power, but resurrected again and went into hiding to serve as a tentative ally for the vanguard.
• Central Theme: Trust - the Guardians are forced to place their trust in Eris and Savathun to even have a chance at following the Witness, despite how unlikely the odds of success are. Immaru, meanwhile, gradually reveals that he has no faith in Savathun's plan or Savathun herself, and makes it clear that if this plan fails, he's running. Ultimately, the Guardians are rewarded for their trust when Eris successfully manages to oitgambit Savathun and depower Xivu, while Savathun upholds her end of the bargain and gives them directions for how to follow the Witness. Immaru, meanwhile, suffers for his lack of faith, as Savathun gives him to the Vanguard as insurance that she won't betray them, leaving him their prisoner.
• Character Development: The lore for the Season Pass Exotic sparrow, Acromantis, has a conversation between Caiatl and Ikora about the plan to raise Savathun from death. While Ikora is worried about Caiatl's reaction to the plan, the Empress admits that she has come to realize Light and Darkness are beyond her ability to control, and if Eris' plan is the only way to defeat the Witness, her legions will not oppose it. Of course, it helps that said plan will take down Xivu Arath, the one who conquered Torobatl.
• Chekhov's Gun: The idea of one of the allied characters taking on a Worm to acquire the power of a Hive God was suggested back in The Witch Queen, as Mara Sov used that promise to trick Savathuns' previous Worm to become the Parasite grenade launcher. Since then Eris has developed a method to emulate their power for a time, done by using other worms in the construction of a Hive magic staff with instructions provided by Immaru and Savathun.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The ritual to turn Eris into a Hive God is very intimidating and she becomes more demonic in voice and use of language in the process, causing numerous worries of this power consuming her. But if it was anyone BUT Eris it would be a lost cause, as only she would be convincing enough to use Hive magic against the Hive in this manner.
• Deal with the Devil: In order to resurrect Savathun (who will almost certainly exploit the situation to her advantage), the Vanguard has to make one with Immaru - defeat Xivu Arath before he raises the Witch Queen.
• Deity of Human Origin: Using Hive magic, Eris manages to become a Hive God of Vengeance, with the Guardians as her acolytes. Though this, she takes tithes that would have otherwise gone to Xivu Arath, so as to weaken the Hive God of War.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Immaru panics in shock when Xivu-Arath sends her forces to the High Coven, including The Leviathan-Eater, as that was not in Savathun's plans.
  • Everyone is left in shock when Eris has Immaru resurrect Savathun only to kill her moments later, which gives Eris enough power to sever Xivu's connection to her throne world.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Eris' Hive God form brings to mind Our Werewolves Are Different - concern over whether she's still herself when she transforms, her becoming much more aggressive and scary in that form, and her assuring others she's still in control.
• The Dragon: In a first for a seasonal story, an ancient Hive knight known as the Leviathan Eater is presented as Xivu Arath's most dangerous weapon and the one to burn Torobatl to ashes. Mid way through the story the Leviathan Eater made a sneak attack on the Guardian and proved to be quite a bulky threat. Immaru's dialogue indicates he wants to stay absolutely clear of him, and he proves to be THE big encounter of the season, with Xivu Arath remaining The Unfought.
• Dramatic Irony: One of the Seasonal Armor lore entries has Mithrax and Ikora discussing the ongoing events of the season, as well as the previous two. The conversation veers into Ikora reminiscing on Asher Mir, causing Mithrax to bring up a mind he and the Young Wolf found in the Vex network. It's only after Ikora mentions Asher's name that Mithrax realizes they're talking about the same person.
• Dressing as the Enemy: More symbolic than literal as Eris undergoes a Painful Transformation with Hive magic to become a Hive God, while teaching the Guardian how to wield Hive magic as well, all to undermine the Hive stalemate with their own power. And while there have been plenty of Hive themed armors in the past (Crota's End, King's Fall and just last season Ghosts of the Deep) the seasonal armor makes you look near closer to actual Hive than ever before.
• Enemy Mine: The Guardians make an alliance with the Lucent Brood because Savathun knows how to enter the portal the Witness made into the Traveler, but first they need to execute her plan to neutralize Xivu Arath before Immaru resurrects her. Interestingly, unlike the Guardians' alliances with the Imperial Cabal and the House of Light, the Guardians and the Lucent Hive don't stop trying to kill each other, because the Hive still follow their Social Darwinist mentality.
• Explosive Leash: Of a sort. Savathun is resurrected by Immaru but aware their common enemy is The Witness, she sets out to deliver on her promises, but leaves Immaru with the Vanguard as collateral. Immaru is Savathun's connection to the light, and the Vanguard being able to kill him is a good a show of faith as anything.
• Evil Feels Good: Eris admits that, in spite of herself, the power she absorbs from the tithes the Guardians give her does feel enjoyable, as well as getting to exact the vengeance she's desired against the Hive for many years.
• Gambit Roulette: Since they have to deal with Savathun, Hive God of Deception, once more much of the season is exploring just what is happening and how much is playing into the schemes of which side.
  • Savathun had anticipated the very possibility of the Vanguard needing her to pursue the Witness after it entered the Traveler. This involved anticipating both her own defeat and Immaru managing to escape and not be executed on site, as well as knowing the Witness would successfully reach the Veil and use it to forge a link with the Traveler. She left recorded messages taunting the Guardian on needing her once more. While Eris and Ikora muse on her foresight, surprisingly, Immaru is the one to dismiss how clever she was.
  • Eris uses Hive magic to become a new Hive God and circumvent Xivu Arath's power of tributes, which the Vanguard is obviously concerned over. But Sword Logic of the Hive is based around who is the strongest, and it turns out Xivu is more amused than angry over this turn as she believes it will only make the Hive stronger. In Season of the Deep it was revealed Xivu was tormented over Oryx's defeat because an enemy conquered him but did not take the throne, which was heretical to Sword Logic. By Eris Morn becoming a Hive God, Xivu sees this as a proper replacement for the fallen Oryx.
• Hijacking Cthulhu: Variation. Eris Morn is a Lightless Guardian who manages to ascend into a Hive God, allowing her Guardians to tithe death and violence to her so she can weaken Xivu Arath.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Savathun's wings are revealed to have held the code to the mythical 15th Wish, which implies the solution to enter the Portal will be connected to the Dreaming City and Ahamkara wish magic.
• Human Resources: Hive Guardian and Ghost resources, to be specific - Savathun has several crystals in her Throne World that are flowing with Light. The lore for the seasonal jumpship, Sparagmos, reveals that she created them from killing Hive Lightbearers and crushing their Ghosts.
• Hypocrite:
  • Savathun calls her siblings out as these, because in spite of their proclaiming their power in the Sword Logic, they're really not actually adherent to it as much as they admit.
  • Lore for the seasonal equipment reveals that part of the reason Immaru hates humanity is that he finds Guardians to be disrespectful of Ghosts, as they always refer to the Light as being their power, as opposed to belonging to the Traveler or the Ghosts. Lore from The Witch Queen shows that Hive Ghosts get even less respect from their Lightbearers, with Immaru himself being the sole exception.
• Internal Reveal: The nature of Drifter's Ghost as a compromised and mutilated Body of Bodies is finally shown to another person that isn't him, in this case Immaru. He does not take it well.
• Irony: The original Night Terror was a creation of the Disciple Nezarec, used to enact his view of the Final Shape. The Human copy of it comes back into play this season as the lynchpin in Eris's actual plan to cut off the Witness's forces, used to reap Savathun's power to De-power Xivu Arath and work out a way to breach the portal on the Traveler.
• Musical Spoiler: After completing the Test of Truth and Lies in the Imbaru Engine, a segment of the Dreaming City's ambient music plays which borrows the main leitmotif of Forsaken. Players who were around for that expansion will be able to identify what's behind the door as related to Riven even before it actually opens and reveals one of her eggs.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Defied, Immaru says he would, but decides not to, stating that he knows the Guardians wouldn't believe it, so he doesn't bother.
• Only Sane Man: Savathun evidently comes across like this compared to Oryx and Xivu. In a recording between the sisters, Xivu is still raging over Oryx's death and rambles about how Eris should take Oryx's place... while Savathun dryly and bluntly calls both Xivu and Oryx hypocrites for not practicing what they preach (ie the Sword Logic they love so much). Xivu, for her part, doesn't seem to register it, too deep in her hysteria for it to have any effect.
• Replacement Goldfish: Xivu Arath is delighted to see Eris taking up the mantle of Hive god. In her eyes, this means she has a new baby sister in her life to fill the hole left by Oryx's death. Naturally Eris herself rebukes Xivu's "affections", and she and Ikora bluntly state that as soon as they finally defeat her, Eris will shed her Hive God form immediately afterward.
• Resurrective Immortality: Hive Gods use their power to form a Pocket Dimension called a Throne World, where they get transported to and revive in the event they die. Eris uses the power gained from killing Savathun again to sever the connection Xivu Arath has to her own throne world, thereby ensuring that when it comes time to face her, the Vanguard will be able to defeat her for good in a straight fight.
• Retcon: Up until now, Nadir and Cassoid's generic weaponry has been dismissed as the same kind of Early-Installment Weirdness from Destiny 1's first year that credited similar guns to SUROS, Omolon, and Hakke. This season retcons them to be the primary manufacturer of these weapon frames, giving them the appropriate origin traits.
• Reveling in the New Form: In her guise as a Hive god, Eris loses her usual reserve and becomes a Large Ham, demanding tithes and proclaiming the downfall of her enemies. Some characters worry that With Great Power Comes Great Insanity, with Elsie expressing particular horror as Eris doing exactly this was a major catalyst of the Bad Future she lived through, but Ikora is confident that this Eris won't lose herself.
• The Reveal:
  • Week 4 reveals that Ahsa secretly bonded with Eris to help her bare the strain of the tithes she receives. Sloane, after being possessed by Ahsa, also reveals that this effort is taxing on said Leviathan, and that if Eris indulges in this power for too long, not only will she remain a Hive God, but Ahsa will also be twisted, with the implication that she will become a new Worm God.
  • Week 5, after making it seem like it was an Aborted Arc, finally explains how Savathun altered her tribute system with Imbaru - she has at least one Imbaru Engine, a specialized room that rewards cunning. The engine lays out puzzles that offer prizes if you can figure out their nature, but kill those who cannot solve them. This is how Savathun was able to replace tithes of slaughter with tithes of cunning.
  • After solving the last Imbaru Engine puzzle, a secret chamber reveals a Ahamkara egg uncorrupted by Taken energy and presumed to be from Riven's batch. The final cutscene shows that Savathun's right wing holds the pattern for the fabled 15th wish on the Wall of Wishes, signifying that the key to penetrating the Witness' portal will rest upon the power of an Ahamkara.
• Sequel Hook: The conclusion of figuring out the mysteries of the Imbaru Engine reveals a natural Ahamkara egg Savathun had kept hidden, and the Guardian figures out that the glyphs on Savathun's wings revealed the code for the 15th Wish. Once figured out, Bungie announced the upcoming Season of the Wish.
• Slashed Throat: Eris kills Savathun again this way, slicing her throat with her Night Terror sword.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: The seasonal armor has what looks like Hive chitin attached to it, with the Titan and Warlock's helmets having skull-like features.
• The Social Darwinist:
  • The underlying principle the Hive have abided by is something they called Sword Logic, the strongest will always rise up and prove themselves stronger. If they are defeated then they were weak. After ascending to godhood Savathun recognized the primary flaw with Sword Logic being the eternal threat of finding an enemy that is stronger, which made her seek to Take a Third Option. Eris in this season reveals a related flaw, as the Hive Gods clung to Sword Logic out of fear and allowed their pact with the worm gods as an eternal holding option rather than a means to an end. She rewrites the philosophy of Sword Logic as meaning "prove your right to exist," a cutscene shows Eris' backstory where she lost her fireteam and her light, fighting her way out of the Hellmouth by mastering Hive magic. By devising a way to become a Hive god she is in a position to fulfill Sword Logic not from fear but through vengeance and retribution, avenging her fireteam and protecting Earth.
  • The very concept of the Sword Logic, or at least its central belief of "if you die then you had no right to exist anyway", is becoming more and more deconstructed in this season. Not even the Hive God of War herself truly believes it, as she's still in a Villainous Breakdown after Oryx's death and the Guardians' refusal to take his place. Savathun bluntly calls her on this hypocrisy, which Xivu ignores. The very fact that Eris can hijack the Sword Logic and rewrite it to her own ends reveals it to be a fundamentally broken system that cannot sustain itself long-term when an outside factor (ie, the Guardians) not only doesn't play along, but actively steals it for their own purposes.
• Take a Third Option: Continuing the stalemate against Xivu Arath was not feasible, neither was trying to confront her head on as she would only grow stronger from violence. Eris chose to embrace Hive magic to divide the power she could draw from them.
  • Eris ends up using all the tithes given to her, as well as the immense power surge from killing Savathun again, to break the connection Xivu Arath has to her own Throne World. Now the Hive God of War is left very mortal, and very vulnerable should she try to mount an all-out assault.
• Takes One to Kill One: Eris takes on the power of a Hive God in order to split the war tributes that would empower Xivu Arath. This was seen as the only way to move forward because a massive war campaign against her was not viable and likely to fail. This gets Deconstructed later in the season, though, because however many tithes the Guardians offer, they don't come close to the amount Xivu has been getting, with the penultimate week's story missions having Immaru explicitly state Eris isn't getting the tithes needed to match her opponent.
• Tarot Motifs: The Deck of Whispers is a Hive-themed card deck that confers different buffs for players during Savathun's Spire and Altars of Summoning.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Savathun's ghost Immaru is the most dangerous character to the Vanguard, seeing as if he revives Savathun without some safeguards, the Vanguard is most likely doomed. Unlike Fynch, Immaru is a true believer in the Lucent Hive and he is trading barbs with Eris through much of the first mission. The Young Wolf nearly kills him from sheer annoyance.
• Thanatos Gambit: Savathun had set aside plans that would trigger in the event that she was slain and wasn't revived. Specifically, that she'd be needed again, since she alone knows how best to go after the Witness.
• The Final Temptation: Eris reveals that, after absorbing Savathun's powers and becoming the most powerful Hive alive, she was subjected to this by the Deep, offered the fullest powers of the Sword-Logic and an endless bounty of death. She refuses it, choosing to use the power to render Xivu Arath mortal once more. By rejecting the Sword-Logic for good, Eris loses all the power she had as a Hive.
• True Companions: Drifter cements himself as one to Eris. While everyone else expresses concern over whether Eris can control her new form, Drifter merely states that he trusts that Eris knows what she's doing and that she can handle it, and he simply says he'll still be by her side by the time this is all over. Eris certainly appreciates it, as evidenced by her repeating one of his Verbal Tics to him.
• Wham Shot:
  • After completing the Imbaru Engine, you reach the final chamber and there is an Ahamkara egg, one directly from Riven and it is NOT Taken. Ahamkara wish magic is one of the most dangerous forces in the setting, but Ikora has it retrieved because they would rather have it under their guard than Savathun's tower.
  • The Guardian caught something strange upon seeing Savathun resurrected and managed to put the puzzle together... the glyphs on Savathun's wings was an encryption of the mythical 15th Wish.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Elsie is pissed that Ikora and the Young Wolf are complacent in the events of the season at all, as Eris turning into a Hive God is one of the Dark Future's pivotal events. It falls on deaf ears, however, as the Dark Future has been averted on several counts already and it would ultimately be more dangerous in the long run if she were allowed to throttle the operation now.
  • Immaru throws one at the Guardians at the start of Week 4, pointing out that if they hadn't killed Savathun, she would have been able to pull the Traveler into her Throne World and leave if forever beyond the Witness' reach. It falls flat for two reasons: first, if Savathun had succeeded, mankind would have been left defenseless against the Black Fleet (which Immaru was probably counting on), and second, Week 3 had Xivu Arath's forces raid the High Coven to try and steal Savathun's sacrifices, implying the Witness would have eventually found a way in as well, making Savathun's solution temporary at best.
• You're Insane!: Immaru has this reaction to Ikora insinuating that Eris's actions haven't caused any real tensions in the Vanguard, sneering through barely-concealed rage that he's listened in on enough of their comms to know that's a lie.

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"She did give us what she promised. The last wish."