History TearJerker / Destiny

** On the other hand, given how much history has been lost in the Collapse, the Live Action trailer shows that humanity ''still remembers'' the moon landing, and still respects it.
* 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. [[spoiler: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.]]

* Meta wise, [[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-players-pay-respects-to-fallen-guardian/1100-6428353/?ftag=YHRe6a6b70 this]] tribute a Destiny group gave to a member who passed away on June 8 after a battle with cystic fibrosis.

* "Ghost Fragment: Thorn 3" details Dredgen Yor's final conversation with his Ghost. 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.

** Even worse, 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, [[spoiler: 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. [[spoiler:He then realizes that Yor never touched his Thorn.]]

** 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. [[spoiler: 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]]]].

* 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 [[spoiler: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.]]]]
* 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. [[spoiler: 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:

* If you dig into Oryx's backstory you'll find that [[spoiler: 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]]...]]
** As if that wasn't enough, [[spoiler: 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.]]
** In the Books of Sorrow when Aurash is confronted [[spoiler: with what she ends up becoming]].

** [[spoiler: 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]].]]

** [[spoiler: 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 [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in a way that]] [[AnAxeToGrind they would have]] [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].]]

* 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 CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming at the end, when he mentions how he found you and sounds as if he's been completely filled with hope.
-->'''Ghost''': "''As I saw the other Ghosts find their Guardians, and the centuries went by, I wondered if I would ever find you.'' ''[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming And then, I did.]]''"

** [[spoiler: 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 [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome in a way that]] [[AnAxeToGrind they would have]] [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].]]

* A scannable in the Cosmodrome shows a stasis pod that would have been used by a Golden Age colonist is now occupied by a still-living Guardian. Ghost says that he met the Guardian while searching the Cosmodrome, and when he asked why the Guardian wouldn't out, the Guardian replied that [[ShellShockedVeteran he had seen so much violence and death in the wars over his lifetime]] that [[HeroicBSOD he never wanted to step outside of his pod again]]. Even the fact that this is a ''[[VideoGame/Halo]]'' ShoutOut doesn't help.

* A scannable in the Cosmodrome shows a stasis pod that would have been used by a Golden Age colonist is now occupied by a still-living Guardian. Ghost says that he met the Guardian while searching the Cosmodrome, and when he asked why the Guardian wouldn't out, the Guardian replied that [[ShellShockedVeteran he had seen so much violence and death in the wars over his lifetime]] that [[HeroicBSOD he never wanted to step outside of his pod again]]. Even the fact that this is a ''VideoGame/Halo'' ShoutOut doesn't help.

* A scannable in the Cosmodrome shows a stasis pod that would have been used by a Golden Age colonist is now occupied by a still-living Guardian. Ghost says that he met the Guardian while searching the Cosmodrome, and when he asked why the Guardian wouldn't out, the Guardian replied that [[ShellShockedVeteran he had seen so much violence and death in the wars over his lifetime]] that [[HeroicBSOD he never wanted to step outside of his pod again]].

* 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. [[spoiler: 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.]]

** [[spoiler: 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 [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome in a way that]] [[AnAxeToGrind they would have]] [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].]]

* "Ghost Fragment: Thorn three" details Dredgen Yor's final conversation with his Ghost. It's 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.

** [[spoiler: 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 [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome in a way that]] [[AnAxeToGrind they would have]] [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].]]
* The teaser image for ''Destiny 2'': [[spoiler: The Last City is in flames]].
** Then the teaser trailer "Last Call" is realeased. Despite the upbeat and humorous tone Cayde gives, there is no denying the simple, heartbreaking fact: [[spoiler:the Cabal have invaded the Last City. Humanity's last refuge is no longer safe, but a war zone. We thought that the Guardians would bring about a second Golden Age, but instead, we are on the verge of a second Collapse.]]

* The teaser image for ''Destiny 2'': [[spoiler: The City is in flames]].

** [[spoiler: 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 [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome in a way that]] [[AnAxeToGrind they would have]] [[OutrunningTheFireball been proud of]].]]

** Even worse, 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,[[spoiler: 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. [[spoiler:He then realizes that Yor never touched his Thorn.]]

** Even worse, 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 another Guardian,[[spoiler: ending with the Guardian 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. [[spoiler:He then realizes that Yor never touched his Thorn.]]

** The intro cutscene proper shows both party's reaction as the sacrifice is made. As Saladin is screaming in his mad dash to save her, Jolder is wearing a heartwrenching expression as she preps the detonator to destroy the SIVA replication chamber. Jolder isn't happy or even proud to do this. But it is the only thing she can do...

* [[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.

* 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.