Destiny Lore: Toland, The Shattered 

I love how Toland literally went insane, built dark weaponry (Juju and _maybe_ thorn), told everyone the future that no one believed, and then fucked off to space on a journey.

So many questions,and the answers to those questions only bring more questions.

I remember reading a grimoire card, were you are in the black garden, and you see a ghost shaped flower, and you cut your finger on it. The ghost then said you were born of darkness not light. Or something like that. I think there is no "darkness" and "light" just two sides, that wronged each other.

If he's out there somewhere, I will find him and bring him back.

So sad. The Destiny universe has so much lore and history, and yet the actual game has oh so little.

Here's a thought. I'm not sure if I entirely believe it myself but I shall offer it in attempts to see what the librarians and other guardians think. As you said wally, the Hive is Death itself. but what is Death? I don't think it can be classified as simple darkness. The theory I present here is that the hive is not simply darkness, but complete Void. Absent of both Light and Dark, Void is something even more terrifying then your worst nightmare. We know the Hive wish to consume the Travelers light, but then why would they seem so hostile towards other members of the darkness as well? I predict that it is either the Hives will to reach and consume the Traveler before anyone else can as a better "feast" of Light, or because they also wish to consume them as well. And if the Hive are truly just simple minions of Darkness, then what says there can't be a foe out there that does pay homage to the Void? It is a foe I hope we never face, as for I am afraid that we won't be able to fight it off as we do the armies of Dark, by shunning those who are claimed to be "corrupt". And remember Guardians, while no one may call the Void home, even some creatures can thrive in the Darkness.

Of all the lore stories Toland's is my favorite. One of these many reason why warlocks are my favorite class in destiny. He also is the only one of Eris's raid group which wasn't marked as dead. With the taken King coming out and a new harder and hopefully better hive raid I hope Toland comes back. I'd like to see him in the new cut scenes helping the guardians cut Crotas dad but even if not I'd like to at least see grimmore cards for him.

I've binged the entire fucking day watching all your lore. I was already addicted to the game already (I'm a Lvl32) but the way you do the lore mixed with theory makes the game 10x more investing. Keep up the great work! :)

I'm surprised that wearing Hive inspired armor hasn't done anything to guardians unlike the Hezen vex armor that we got from the VoG

i absolutely love this lore series, i also love how you stay in character thru the stories, looking forward to hearing more, keep up the good work guardian

Toland mentioned THREE nations. We can assume one of them is the Darkness, and another one is the Light / Traveler, which would mean there is yet another power in the universe. These seems to contraddict what Guardians have benn told so far. Which brings us to our second piece of evidence: The Speaker sometimes sells a Hunter Cloak called the "Cult/Trinary Star". TRINARY as in THREE? As in a THIRD hidden power. But here's where where it all starts connecting. The description of the cloak reads: "The mark of the Trinary Star, the hidden cult who curse the Traveler'slight." This is no ordinary coincidence, ladies and gentlemen. In fact, this can only mean one thing. There is a THIRD giant in the world, and we all know what that translates to: Half-Life 3 Confirmed!

Been waiting for one of these. I know you're busy but it's nice to know you are still working on these ! Thank you.

Toland is why my guardians fight.

Re watching these gives me so much nostalgia. Used to watch your videos over and over all day long

Yet another amazing video! Thank you so much for this one, I've been desperately trying to find any and all info on Toland, his story interests me the most. So thank you for putting this one together.

I think you should attempt to gather some information on our elusive friend Xûr, and his employers The Nine. Statements such as "My will is not my own" and "your Traveler has a dark mirror" seem vaguely worrying, as does the odd energy tendrils radiating from his face that look disturbingly similar to the vision distortion caused by entering a Darkness zone.

@Sir Wallen Truly an amazing series. Your videos flesh out a world that Bungie has left obscured in the game. Thank you so much for this.

OMFG I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE HOLE FUCKING STORY, IT'S SO FRIGGING COOL

Was going back through old lore, and i now feel bad for Toland. Because now we commune with the darkness.

Bad Juju is my favorite weapon in the game. So fun to use.

Great job, you're doing the fans of Destiny's lore a huge favor. Keep it up!

Knowledge Is power, knowing your enemy better than he knows you is important but it can also break you. For toland it shattered him, twisted his mind because He understood the hive. He knows their secrets, he has seen their gods and spoken to the darkness itself. In many ways I feel like my warlock Is a Lot like toland. Someone who wants to learn everything about their enemy. Their magic, army size and their gods. The biggest question of them all, where do they come from.

Amazing Wally!.Alot of intel into Toland, really gets you to understand his story.

I wish the whole game was this detailed. If only Activision hadn't screwed it up...

Watching Wally play year 1 Crotas end is bringing back memories of late raid nights where me and my clan would go through vault and crotas end in one night waiting for everyone to get on at night just sitting in orbit. God I miss this.

U should do one on the Stranger

From Kabr to Toland it just keeps getting better

I can't watch this because of the way he says Toland... It drives my OCD nuts

Just gonna say, I think you are a fantastic writer and storyteller.

I thought it was Tow-Lend

Dude your epic speeches are killing me!!!! Sooooo awesome

Honestly this guy has the best voice for this kind of stuff

I've been extremely interested in kabrs story but now I'm hooked on Toland. Great lol . This is awesome

Truly an intriguing video. Another one well done

First off thank you, Sir Wallen. The presentation, speech, quality everything A+ If I was the cryptarch I'd make least one of your engrams to be an exotic(Not all. gotta maintain dat troll rep). I enjoy the videos, listening to all the information really makes me thinks and paint pictures in my mind. I really wish bungie would present more the story in-game. They literally sitting on a gold mine of story. Continue to pump out as much lore as you can. You doing a great job for the Destiny Community!

i'm not new to your series… but this one gripped the hell out of my inner guardian. i too now wish to know the whereabouts of Toland.

Dude you're like the destiny version of that Elder Scrolls lore guy

I'VE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR THIS

When the lore Videos on RU-vid are better than the actuall story expositions in the game. Well done Sir Wallen.

could you do Ahamkara next?

sir wallen I just want to say you are amazing truly you are I love hearing these lore videos your voice is so soft and relaxing and makes them interesting

Toland is a boss.

Subscribed. Great interpretation of the Grimoire, hopefully we get to see more about Toland in the future.

" cast the fear of the unknown into the wind and let it be forgotten"

This is literally the best thing ever. I will be watching ALL OF THESE. I demand story. I know it's there, he's reading it. He knows of it. I am intrigued beyond measure.

Love your vids man, keep up the great work.

Very Interesting :). you should make some more lore reports. The music is relaxing,

thank u . awsomr report like always . cant wait to see the next one.

That's something interesting to think about, and sorta supports my view of what the Traveler may be. You said three nations and three queens. One nation, the nation of armies definitely fits the Hive persona. The nation building a high tower, like they were trying to ascend over others, that could be the Fallen, they have a hierarchy where the Kell rules over houses, or it could be someone else we haven't encountered yet. But what about the last one, the one who creates a nation that rules with law and just... sounds like the Traveler to me.

Isn't it pronounced (toh-land)? Nonetheless, great video

Wallen, I love this video series. I give you my honest thanks for making these videos. I hope you have a wonderful year on RU-vid. Keep up the excellent work!

Why do you pronounce his name so differently from the game? They honestly say it many times. TOE-land not TA-lawnd

Toland (Toll-lend) was also the creator of Shadow Price. He should be a boss later on. Fighting a Guardian who can use the darkness like we use the light would be terrifying and overpowering.

just a thought...warlocks have come on to something much like the Song Of Ir Yut in Radiance...the ability to pluck themselves from the brink of the abyss and place themselves back in "our" plane...perhaps Toland is responsible for bringing this piece of knowledge to the Warlocks? the only reason I mention this is because of the significant time you spend on Ir Yut in this video and the purpose and scope of her powers.

After listening to this lesson, a thought is placed in my mind. I don't know why, but it's there. With Wallen's reference to the Hive as the country of armies, and Toland's theory of conquest and survival is true, I start to wonder... what if we are the Darkness? Or rather, we become the Darkness in the future where we reach the pinnacle of conquest, only to travel back in time to continue this never ending struggle? It's legions take the shape of our factions in the city. The Hive's Army being the Future War Cult, Dead Orbit's desire to leave the community of the city and Earth as a Cabal, New Monarchy's honor is stained and they become the Fallen, and the Vex... I don't know about the Vex...

you blew my mind.you could read my life story.

I probably would have read up on this a while ago if the Warlocks had not banned me from the library for throwing a knife at that lamp... Anti-Hunter prejudice pessimistic...

"It was told to me, by the Speaker, by The Darkness itself." That's where I think that the original story of Destiny was going. If I'm not mistaken, on that original story leak, they said that the Speaker and the Traveler were actually the "bad guys." So, can you imagine how great the story would be if you teamed up with Toland, Eris and the other guardians from their fireteam against the Traveler?

Great vid dude, it kept me engaged all the way to the the end. Subscribed.

I don't know where the best place to write this is, so I'm just going to put it here. My understanding is that the Hive are the Darkness taking form. The fact is, their humanoid structure looks very, very similar to Fallen Dregs (at least, the Acolytes do). As such, the Hive are basically a very large religious cult that pretty much "indoctrinates" other species IMHO. I tend to think of the Hive like the structure of the Catholic church. Thrall -> Lay people. They follow the instruction of the Hive Ultras to the letter, sticking to the doctrine of the Darkness. The fact that they are "thrall" means that they are almost under the spell of said doctrine. Acolytes -> Acolytes (funnily enough). An acolyte in Mass is usually a lay person who has ascended to help the priest with Mass. Knights -> Priests. They are "celebrants" of the great doctrine of the Hive. Wizards -> Nuns. Usually accompany to support the priests (or Knights, in the case of Destiny). Their main role in Destiny is to create a new Hive army (usually called a Spawn). What's funny is that whenever there's a Knight, chances are there's almost always a Wizard. It's like the two form a relationship with the Knight being the father and the Wizard being the mother. This comes directly from the fact that there are factions called the Spawn of Crota (that is created by Omnigul, the Will of Crota) and the Blood of Oryx (no idea who the Wizard here is, but I'm guessing it has something to do with Eir, who is probably an as-of-yet-unknown Hive god). Ogres -> No fucking idea, but TerraMantis' 2nd "10 things you didn't know about Destiny" suggests that Ogres are just extremely large and tortured Thralls. Using this system, Crota would be (Hive) God the Son and Oryx would be (Hive) God the Father. I haven't been able to figure out who Hive God the Holy Spirit is.

All These are great. Keep it up!

Wallen i love your videos keep up the awesome work!

I just finished the Bad JuJu bounty yesterday and there is nothing that explains in detail who Toland was, what he did and so on. Your video (excellently done by the way) is how I wanted the lore to be in game it would keep me more interested in finding things reading them like I did with the books in TES. I know there that app that has the grim cards but I think you will see where I'm coming from.

First let me say you are a great storyteller and I appreciate the work you've put into telling the story of Destiny. I have a couple of speculative ideas after learning more about the story. I think that a second social hub is imminent because of Toland's story. A second city has been a rumor for a little while now ( especially with The House of Wolfs dlc coming eventually.) My theory is that way down the road when Bungie is ready to pit us against Oryx we will get introduced to Toland in game but because he has been banished from the Tower, Bungie will have to make a place outside of the Tower for us to meet Toland. My other idea is that because the Cabal mostly are a cabal that their dlc will involve Cabal from farther into space coming to our solar system. These are just the ideas I've gotten from learning more about the story. What do you other Guardians out there think?

wow, great video, as usual haha love the work sir wallen :)

This maybe crazy, but has anyone ever thought about how the vex may be future, more evolved hive. They both have the same builds, look at the knights to Minotaurs and ogres to hydras. We also have never seen them fight each other. Also they both teleport, the hive through the green swirling ball and the vex through the blue light and smoke.

If all intelligence corrupts us, then what hope does he light have against the darkness. We may never succeed, and be locked in a bloody stalemate until we are overwhelmed, and only small groups of humanity may survive.

Wow that was amazing, good job man ;)

. . .In short, he went nuts lol. Interesting lore and storytelling so you got yourself a new sub.

I at least hope that in the DLCs we get to meet some of these people like Toland and Tuyet. They seem like great characters and it would be a waste for them not to appear in person.

another amazing video. bungie should hire you as a story writer!

YES! Thank you for this!

10:41 This made my mind explode....

2:47 look at the BEAUTIFUL warlock armor :(

nice video! i was always fascinated with him ever since i got bad juju. Not to mention he's a famous gaurdian that may or may not be crazy.

Love the detail that these videos include, I'd be an idiot not to subscribe for more.

What I hope from this is that a new subclass for the warlock will be with the darkness using the darkness against the darkness of that makes sense

Great vid Wally

I really enjoyed watching all your lore videos & hope to see more coming soon. Will you have one on Osiris and the other guardians that went with Eris? Hope so I think their story needs to be told. Thanks again keep them coming please

This one video has more lore in it than the whole story mode of destiny.

This is so fucking cool and yeah bad juju on a voidwalker is a sick build

They should make gear to honor Toland with descriptions of what he last said and his lore

i loved the ending to this it was great

Since everyone is talking about the "light" being evil I have a theory. The "other" storyline where the speaker is evil and the Queen's brother puts a gun to your head could tie into this. As the Stranger says in a mission on Venus "A side should always be taken, even if it's the wrong one." Maybe the "light" isn't what we think it is. Maybe the Speaker really is evil. The Awoken know the answers and as you are close to knowing as well they stalk you down and put an end to you. Just a theory :)

I'm really hoping in destiny 2 they'll have a mission to let go find toland for a good reason cuz that will make the game 50x more interesting

man and to think this weapon was updated wile still being true it it's lore. to have the ability to endlessly kill if your hand is steady and your aim is true. this report told me a lot about my enemy, there for made me a lot less scared of the seemly endless hordes of thrall coming to claw out my face.

Bro, That was awesome.

The thrall seem to be to most complex enemy we face. They are the enemy that overwhelm you. The cursed few are the ones who will kill themselves, just to defeat you. And if cursed for long enough, they are the scariest and most threatening enemy of them all, the ogre.

Should we conduct an analysis that compares the engineering of the Thorn and the Bad Juju? When I had found the hand cannon in the Hive summoning pits it had something that I would describe as a hunger...perhaps there is a correlation?

I just really hope that with time Bungie will release the grimoire in-game, even if each card it's a short cutscene, or just narrated like the great job you did here Sir Wallen - Lore Seeker ... about gameplay i would love to do missions along other characters and not only players, i mean, just imagine how cool would it be to kill hive along with Eris Morn and that way be witness of her trauma

When your talking about queens I thought of the awoken.

Toland lives, everyone else died except Eris. Four died, Toland went missing, Eris is in the Tower.

This guy needs to be an announcer for motorcross/supercross. He sounds just like one

My theory is that Toland may have figured out, or may have been close to figuring out that the Traveler is the darkness, so the Speaker banished him, denying the possibility that he could have spread the word of the Speaker's lies.

Was told a theory, about how Ariana was interested in Hive Witches/Wizards, and tortured one. And how Ariana was in Eris' fireteam and Crota turned her into Ir Yut

Just a theory and I've been studying up on this. What if The Speaker is the Traveler itself, or a physical form of the traveler and is healing itself and trying to tell you the truth on why it/he is there. I'm not sure if I can truly make it a theory, but I will be back with more for you.

Good video as usual

theses are so good bro keep up the great work :D

This is why my friends and I are Warlock fanatics. We are "Scholarly Wizards"...

Toland most likely knows everything about the darkness. I believe he is beyond the hive at this point because they are only minions of the darkness. We’ll either see him along with the darkness in the 4th D2 dlc or they will emerge in the the base campaign of D3. You saw it here first.