Destiny 2 Lore - The Final Witch Queen Cutscene explained! What was that? (SPOILERS) 

It’s amazing that Destiny went from “I don’t have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain” to multiple Grimore books, huge lore projects like Dynasty, and videos like this. I’m grateful to be apart of it

It’s stated that the Witness is NOT the darkness but a being that wears it like a cloak. The darkness is a neutral force in the universe. It is the witness that is using it in a malicious manner as stated by numerous characters. However he is the closest thing to the darkness and could be described as the true representative of the force just like the traveller

I still remember the day my Titan was resurrected outside the Cosmodrome, getting to the Tower for the first time with countless questions. And now, almost eight years later, here he is, with an almost complete understanding of the universe Light, Darkness and life itself.

The Witness turning around at the end signifies to me that it stopped talking to the Traveler and instead was referring to us or the player character, as if it somehow knew that we see it. It felt like it was calling back to the concept of “The Player on the Other Side” And those eyes…..they never blinked…..

A thought on the Witness. Based entirely on the name alone, it is not the Winnower from the tale. It bore witness to them and their game. And I think the Witness is represented in that story as The First Knife.

Hey BYF you don’t have to apologize you and the team pulled your asses off with dynasty and anyone who watches it will be impressed remember you’ve helped out a bunch of Destiny players and even other people who haven’t even started D1 or D2. I especially appreciate your dedication to this project I wish I could’ve helped out with the 3d animations because I’m getting a degree in game design. Thank you so much Byf and the team for doing this project I was ultra excited to see what you guys came up with it made my day before Witch was released and thanks again!!!🙏❤️

Just want to point out, Savathun saved the traveler once before, even while still having her worm. And Savathun isn’t quite dead either, so maybe she could become a true ally

One cool thing about the Witness's appearance is that the part of him that is white protrudes an endless smokey effect but the part of him that is dark is stable and holds it's appearance. A lot of what we seems to show some symbolism that the Darkness may not be fully about the darkness and being this being of evil.

Lore daddy coming in clutch to explain why Kaos from skylanders is in destiny, let’s go!

“Devotion leads to bravery, bravery leads to sacrifice, sacrifice leads to death”. What the Winnower doesn’t understand is death isn’t always because of weakness. The strong sacrifice themselves to protect those that can’t protect themselves. They don’t die because they are weak, they die because they are so strong that they are willing to give their entirety for the benefit of someone else, devotion. Those people shouldn’t be left in the ground they should be exalted. That’s what the Gardner believes.

The "your heart is the key." Line really gets me hoping that we get to go into the traveler in lightfall

At some point in the campaign it was said that "The witness isn't the darkness itself but something that wears it like a cloak". Doesn't this imply that the witness is not the winnower and something else deeply related to the darkness instead?

Everyone knows that it’s the PRESENTATION that makes one super. And damn, the Witness has a good presentation

A lot of us have speculated that the Witness may be a Speaker-like figure, except for the Entity rather than the Traveler.

I love the character design. It can be interpreted so many ways, but I love how it's ever changing, endlessly adapting to its situation. And 'Wearing Darkness like a cloak' is added into it so well. The many voices aspect reflected in its movements, voice and the white smoke coming from its head in the shape of faces, is fantastic! I actually love it.

A thought about the Witness. Savathun says "It is not Darkness, but something that wears it like a cloak. It gives Darkness a wicked shape." As the Light and Dark are both neutral forces, I think that the Witness is not actually the Winnower, or even a personification of it, but a creature that uses the Darkness for malicious purposes. It may even be a direct mirror to the Traveler - neither are really *the* Light or Dark, but vessels to spread it. I think something a lot of people forget is that the Traveler is a sentient being, with a personality and emotions and fears. I think the Witness is the direct juxtaposition to that - another sentient being, not actually the Darkness, but a creature that uses it, or maybe even a player placed there *by* the Winnower - but not the true Darkness itself.

"Your pale heart holds the key." I think The Witness here is referencing the power of The Light Itself. Think about it, one of The Entity's many names is The Formless One, but what do we see in the cutscene? A form representing Itself. I think The Winnower's new strategy is to use part of The Light, or a part of Its philosophies, to defeat It. That means that It will take a form and maybe even attempt to steal The Traveler's Light in order to destroy The Gardener, because It knows It can't defeat It any other way.

The opinion on the Witness’ design is polarizing, it seems I for one love that it’s humanoid but not, familiar but not, understandable but not The exact way an embodiment of something so far beyond mortal concepts that we are nothing to it should be Edit: I definitely think the Witness is related to or just is who we met at the end of Shadowkeep, they put their hands together the same way and the big cloud of faces might allow them to warp their appearance/voice as needed

I love how we’re starting to see what “shapes” as a metaphysical paracausal concept, look like in practice, and it’s all starting to form a bigger picture towards the end. Like how shapes are formed by memories, almost like a predetermined outcome, almost like the flower game having a deterministic ending, a… Destiny. And “The Final Shape” expansion is probably going to the most revelating thing that we’ve been pondering since D1 when the Speaker told us about the Darkness.

Byf I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart thank you. You've brought so much to this community with your lore videos and your dynasty project. Your voice is so soothing and calming that I've been using your vids to help me sleep. Keep bringing us these vids and thank for being part of this community.

One thing I loved about the design of the witness is the way it’s form(less) reflects its voice: it’s not just one entity, but what seems to be many. It also is said to have “many names”. I find that intriguing.

Little did we know the whole Destiny franchise was a teaser Megamind 2

I'm delighted the Dynasty video was restored! Thank you again and will rewatch it :)

The cutscenes hit harder when you realize just how far you’ve come. I’ve been a warlock since D1 & rocked it to this day. Been an absolute journey.

I'd just like to point out some symbolic meaning in the Witness' design. Its cloak flairs out at the bottom, and the pillar of smoke branches out at the top. Like two triangles meeting at his head. Like an hour glass. But the "sand" is moving up.

There's something super important that we now know that i don't see a lot of people talking about, and that's the fact that the winnower essentially broke it's own logic by leading the three sisters into the deep to gain their darkness powers. It essentially did what the traveler does by gifting the krill with darkness powers to get back at the traveler. Even Oryx recognizes this fact that it broke it's own logic/principles as he notes in the B.O.S that his powers were given, not taken, by the worm gods. With all this in mind, it's clear to me that the Witness is more then what it seems, I wouldn't doubt it if he isn't actually the Winnower, and more like a Sauron to Morgoth.

Fun fact: the game that the gardener and the winnowed play, the flower game, is based on a real life thing known as Conway’s game of Life, a theoretical simulation of life with the same basic rules.

100% going back to watch Dynasty, you guys worked sooo hard on that and it deserves to be seen. I've seen YT mess up great creators content too many times. Much love my friend

I remember Savathun saying that The Witness is not the Darkness itself, but more of a servant of the Darkness

The witness definitely lived up to its name. Creepy and mysterious with black holes for eyes. Souls pouring from him. I can only imagine that wasn't his final form.

you are easily if not the best Destiny review/lore and back story youtube channel out there. i will go watch said video to support you and your team. thanks to you all for what you do.

The moment you asked to watch it again, I paused this video opened a new tab with the video Dynasty and pressed play. Most definitely such an amazing video.

his was one of those rare moments in gaming for me that I long stare at the screen standing still and thinking deeply about what just happened and possible repercussions about the future in the story of the game. thank you Bungie

Oh byf you are amazing aren't you, just about to get some sleep and you drop this, glad Dynasty is back up, it was epic and you and the team did such a great job, keep up the good work and I hope you're doing well!

God idk how long now I’ve been a sub to this channel. But it’s by far my fav destiny lore channel. I find myself sometimes being lulled to sleep by Byfs’ smooth voice during his longer vids 😂

hey I appreciate you explaining the lore and stuff every other video out there I've found is like 3 hours long for explaining the entire story for destiny now I can digest the story in small chunks

You got tons of rewatches of Dynasty coming from me Byf! all the art, animations, voice acting, and just all around creativeness makes it worth the rewatches 👍

An interesting thing to think about with the flower game, is that it can have 3 endings depending on the starting conditions -absolute nothing, since in the flower game nothing emerges out of nothing -a repeating pattern, which continously happens over and over again, basicly the final shape. -chaos. A non-repeating always changing pattern. That is what the traveler wants. And all can happen with the same game, just with different inputs.

I can’t wait till Byf makes a video about the “Two Lies, Two Truths” mission. I don’t know if “The Taken King will rise again” is referencing that being the legacy raid coming in the future, but I hope not. Cause it’d be insane seeing how that happens

I just wanted to express to you that I appreciate all the videos that you make and the attention to detail from them. You have helped me to experience the lore in such a way adds to it in every way. I hope that you continue to make these videos despite the recent issues. Thank you for hard work and dedication.

I’ve rewatched it twice already, on different accounts from my first viewing. I’m a lore buff, even in the months and often years I’ve taken in between Destiny content releases, and so often I’ve watched one of your videos to catch up or even to recap lore in a nice relaxing way. It was upsetting to me to know just how harshly you and your team would be punished for an errant copyright strike after putting in so much work, especially after seeing it on trending at #16 and how much it was due to catapult in views. Here’s to many more rewatches. I hope it passes 1m by next week.

For those unaware, the Flower Game referenced in the lore and in this video is an exact recreation of Conway's Game of Life, or simply the Game of Life (and no, not the board game). The four rules are exactly the same, and when you set an ai to play it out, it will inevitably devolve into repeating patterns of some kind. These rules are... Rule One. A living flower with less than two living neighbors is cut off. It dies. Rule Two. A living flower with two or three living neighbors is connected. It lives. Rule Three. A living flower with more than three living neighbors is starved and overcrowded. It dies. Rule Four. A dead flower with exactly three living neighbors is reborn. It springs back to life

I linked the Dynasty video to our clans discord, it was perfect WQ prep before launch! Movie night vibes!🍿 Thank you for going above and beyond!

Best part of vid, @5:12 Byf, “so what did we just see” me: “your character dying to a grenade”

I don't think the Witness is the Darkness, just as the same as we don't see the Traveler as the Light. The Light and Dark are but neutral forces in the universe, neither good or bad. The Witness, to my understanding, is a creature born purely of Darkness, a God of Darkness. As Savathûn said, the Witness isn't a physical form of the Darkness, but it "wears it like a cloak".

I also feel that the shooting range inside the anomaly, is a further representation to this cutscene. With the phrase "you have no further pieces to place. And the witness' actions kind-of made me think of games like duello where a good portion of winning is being able to swap the opposing pieces to your side. Like with the darkness has been trying to do to us since shadowkeep(if not earlier) what it did to the krill(who we found were supposedly about to recieve aid from the traveler) what it did with calus and what it could be making a move to do to Mara Sov. The traveler has placed its pieces in ways that it can only move passively now with ineffective moves, meanwhile the Witness and the darkness(if they are seperate) just has to make moves to turn the white pieces to black.

Ty for all the videos and greatly appreciate it 🙏🏾☺️

Have Dynasty running in the background while watching this vid hope it helps. I love your videos thank you for everything you and your team do for us.

There's a voice line in the Yeet the Child exotic quest where Mara confirms that the The Witness and the Voice in the Darkness are the same entity. However, I'm still not entirely convinced that TW is 100% the Winnower, at least not entirely. Perhaps in the same sense that Crow isn't 1:1 with Uldren. I dunno.

I've already watched Dynasty 3 times before it was taken down. I honestly can't STOP watching it or having it in the background. You and the team did phenomenal work, and if that after credits scene is to be believed, then my FAVORITE lore is up next in Dynasty! Do not apologize for asking us to invest time into what we love Byf. Your work is what I look forward to, and I can't wait to see what's next! I'll see you in the Wilds my friend!

I know this is late, but sorry to hear about the YT video issue. Hope that stuff was cleared up and you are back track. Keep up the great work!

byf dynasty is honestly one of the best fan projects ive ever seen i will hapily re watch

My question, though, is *WHY* is it called the witness. A thought I had comes from the phrase "bear witness". Because it bore witness to the flower game, and witnessed the truth of the sword logic and final shape. But that would suggest that the witness is a bystander, and not the winnower, so given that we now know the Darkness can and will lie, maybe there is one above the witness. Or not. God th is so confusing and convoluted I LOVE IT. All I know is I'm hyoed for what comes next

I think the Witness's final argument will simply be that we have been following the sword logic all this time anyway. We've destroyed (and sometimes made into weapons) a lot of the enemies we've destroyed.

I've watched liked and commented but watching it again is not a chore it's an awesome piece of art...you all really should be proud of it

Watching Dynasty 3 times now 😅 best of luck. You're hard work is more than enough for us ❤️

I haven't seen it yet BUT when I finish the campaign, I'm coming straight back here

But I remember in the campaign that it is specified that the witness IS NOT the darkness, he wield it but he’s not the winnower it self

Love ya Byf, commenting for the algorithm. Thanks for another great video!

Your content is amazing and incredibly well done

There is a model of a city within the pyramid ship during one of the story missions. Looks unique like one of the concept arts of D1

I could've sworn I heard throughout the campaign that "The Witness" was not the darkness, but a piece of it or something like that.

Thank you so much for all you do. Especially the spoiler warnings and different titles. I try very hard to go in to the expansions without any leaks and the day the expansion drops my phone is bombarded with videos that have pictures and titles giving everything away! Waited until we completed the legendary campaign to come back and watch your videos. Also, Dynasty was absolutely amazing!

Byf I hope everything evens out smoothly and you come out unscathed I've been watching your content for a long time I will be a viewer till now to the end of d2, see you starside guardian

The formlessness of the darkness draws parallels with the "One Thing" from the emerald tablet writings (if interested there's a book called The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy of Personal Transformation by Dennis W Hauck). Maybe Bungie is using some of the lore around this for inspiration

As someone who completed it on classic, I can confirm that YES. This does play for completing Classic difficulty.

I will watch and like that dynasty video, I promise, you're awesome byf, and your lore videos have inspire me when I'm dungeon master for my group.

Hey Byf, thank you for your dedication and hard work. I must say, I do not play Destiny anymore, but I adore its lore, and thus I watch every one of your videos. Thank you for everything you do, and for allowing me to keep up with this incredible universe.

Don't worry, this scene starts after Be Brave difficulty too

I could very well have misunderstood, but I thought that from Savathun's expositions throughout the campaign, the Witness is NOT the Darkness manifest. I thought the Witness was using the Darkness for its own purposes, whereas the Darkness itself has communicated to us different desired and even assisted us and continues to assist us. The Traveler is the Light/Gardener manifest, and the Witness might be the Winnower, but I don't think the Witness is Darkness manifest.

I WATCHED THE ENTIRE VID IT WAS AWESOME PLEASE DO MORE OF THESE!!!!!!!

After getting back into the game a few weeks now you def deserve the sub and like because I was lost for two dlc’s thank you

If it is the Winnower, then they got some splainin' to do. Per Unveiling: "We did not live. We existed as principles of ontological dynamics that emerged from mathematical structures, as bodiless and inevitable as the primes." It never speaks of the Winnower as an actual entity or being. It anthropomorphizes it, in the same way we say "Evolution decided that this species shouldn't survive" when Evolution is not a being. So turning the Winnower into an actual being, if that's who this is, is a thumbs down from me. Significantly less interesting for it to be a living, breathing, killable entity.

More lore, YAY

thanks again for the vid byf thoroughly entertaining

That cutscene of The Witness plays in Classic/Normal campaign as well Byf. Also, awesome job to you and your team on the Dynasty vid.

When I saw the cutscene for the first time, I was laughing at the absurdity of it. But after a few more watches I'm actually freaked out by the humanoid design to "the witness". So simple but so well defined in it's movement

The true creatures of darkness that we have fought so far are riven and xol and both have the naming convention of 'a thousand'. Xol l, will of a thousand voices could translate to will of the witness. And riven of a thousand voices could suggest that riven was apart of the witness or its armada but split off from it when riven was "taken". The very ability to wish could also have originated in the witness too if your theory is true

I loved your project. It help me to understand even more about the origin story of Savathûn

I’m surprised no one mentions the dust at it’s feet! Great video! Will watch Dynasty a bunch this week for ya’ll 💖💖💖

I guess we know what the Darkness means when it says it brings Salvation. Salvation from our weak, undeserving lives that struggle to survive. But what a twist it would be if the Witness was the Gardener.

Something weird happened to us, I got this cutscene on first completion of the normal campaign and then when I went back and did it on legendary it didn’t.

YOU'RE GOING CRAZY WITH THE CONTENT BYF keep up the phenomenal work

Dude, I love you and your videos. I will do whatever you need to help keep you putting out your quality content.

Thank you for this video. As others have mentioned, I think equating the Witness to the Winnower is a hasty conclusion. That would implicitly equate the traveler to the Gardner. Yet both, the winnower and the Gardener, clearly exist outside of a manifested space and time. As you point out , it is their conflict that precipitated potential into matter and time. Since our universe, according to this lore, is a precipitation, and therefore a polarized reduction of an infinite garden of possibilities, nothing within it can be equated to that which caused it. There are also, according to the lore, an infinite variation of universes existing in different timelines. Most likely, you would have “emissaries” which are only the manifestation of the initial polarization from whence everything we know came into existence. Perhaps The Witness and The Traveler could be manifestations of Darkness and Light, but not the actual transcendent beings that the Winnower and the Gardener appear to be.

Hey Byf I got a question. So on the first memory mission for Savathun she says that she stand before the witness. She says that "It is not Darkness, but something that wears it like a cloak. It gives Darkness a wicked shape." At this point we can assume that this is something she want to remember. Do you think that this is a lie? That the Darkness is using the Witness to enact its will. Awesome video BTW.

Absolutely incredible stuff!!! Thank you!!

Much love for the work you’ve been doing with Destiny’s lore throughout it’s lifespan, See you starside from Mexico🇲🇽

I have a theory, As the Witness is also known as the Formless One and as the name would suggest he is a being capable of altering/shifting its appearance. I belive that Taox the Osmium Traitor the one who betrayed the Osmium Throne is actually the Witness; in a cutscene the Witness states that "These frail siblings will soon be claimed by the light." "Unless we claim them first." The Witness knew that if he did not do something that Traveller would claim them and render them servants of the Light, so in an attempt to set them on a path away from the light and toward The Deep she betrayed the Osmium Court and set them on a path wherein their only way to survive would be to serve the Deep and then She wiped Sathona's memories of them having a choice between the light and the dark. The way that the Witness actually achieved this was through the use of the worm familiar, its that same white worm that Sathona can be seen holding in that aforementioned cutscene. It washed ashore and came into the possession of the Osmium King to which it would whisper about an oncoming calamity; A God Wave, these whispers would soon find their way into Sathona's ear and feed into her fear and pride, convincing her that the only thing lay in the sky was an impending cataclysm in an attempt to drive her away from the Traveller. Furthermore supplanting the idea that their only way out was to go deep within the oceans of Fundament, toward the Worms and conveniently away from the Traveller. The worm familiar would eventually lead them to ship that they could discern to not be of their world, that same ship would take them into depths of fundaments oceans.

The witness is so cool looking with the robotic pyramid parts and the thick face smoke coming out of his head

Rewatched dynasty byf….. thank you to you and your team for all the effort that you and y’all put in there. It is blatantly Evident, speaks volumes, is greatly done… And most of all is greatly appreciated. Looking forward to more

I was waiting for this video finally Lmaoo my homie byf don’t miss

So everyone talks about the entity like it's behind the darkness or is the darkness, but from what i've read wouldn't the entity be the final ultimate form of life that the flower game ultimately produces? It seems to me like the traveler is the gardener that decided to insert itself into the universe so as to change the rules, and the pyramid ships seem the same for the winnower. Guardians are one of those changes to the rules, but the entity/witness would be the final form of life that the winnower/darkness believe in. Basically wouldn't that mean the entity/witness is kind the darkness'/winnower champion or endgame but not the darkness itself? Even savathun said as osiris in presage that "the fact that there is a difference means we don't fully understand". Yet i often hear lore people talk about them like they are one and the same?

The Witch Queen has put Destiny on a whole other Level, I'm honestly in Awe. Bungie should be so so proud of this next Era of Destiny, this amount of Grandure is what Destiny should have always been. Just mind blowing revelations.

Absolutely amazing! I love your videos, keep going, we have your back🤝

In the shadow keep cutscene it’s possible that the reflection of us is entirely the witness himself or a projection of them because of the body language, specifically the folded hands

Winnower= The Father Witness= The Son Darkness = The Holy Spirit

I think if they add a new darkness enemy they should definitely be called “The formless”

Thank you for the awesome content as usual!

Rewatching dynasty for you mate! You did a remarkable job, as someone brand new to the game that video really helped me feel I understood a lot more behind the destiny story which made playing the witch queen even better