Destiny 2is a game filled to the brim with history, mythology, and lore that is sometimes difficult to keep track of, as the provided information stretches back eons within the game and can be told by unreliable narrators. WithinDestiny 2, in the lore bookUnveiling, is one lore bit involving the Flower Game, which references the two paracausal powers of Light and Darkness and a primordial Garden. The opening of Lightfall sees an intense interaction between The Witness and the Traveler concerning this metaphorical Flower Game.
WithinUnveiling, narrated by the Darkness, the Flower Game is described to potentially explain the roles of the two paracausal powers of Light and Darkness and the universe’s birth. ThoughDestiny 2’s Flower Gameis quite relevant within the game’s lore and in the metaphysical battles between both forces, it also explains the motive and relationships with certain enemies such as the Vex.
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Lightfall’s Opening Cinematic Hints at the Flower Game
The opening cinematic of Lightfall is an intense wave of fresh air and heart-stopping moments as the Vanguard and forces of Light see the encroaching Witness and itsBlack Fleet of Pyramid ships. At the flick of its finger, The Witness sends a destructive surge of energy from the Pyramids that cripples the Vanguard and splits apart a Ghost and their Guardian. The Traveler unleashes a beam of Light at the Witness' ship in self-defense.
The Light damages the Witness’s ship, rupturing the side as flowers spread outside the Pyramid. As the torrent of Light breaches the Pyramid, the rupture sprouts white tree branches and red flowers, crawling inside the Pyramid ship as The Witness stands by in ominous silence. Moments later, The Witness enters the beam of Light and proceeds to float towardDestiny 2’s Traveler, unconcerned about being outside in a vacuum as it approaches its longtime enemy.
Despite the dramatic elements in this scene, the imagery is all too recognizable as the metaphorical Flower Game used to describe the nature of Light and Darkness. And since it’s been addressed that The Witness uses Darkness much as the Traveler uses Light, it stands to reason that players are first-hand viewers of the game being played out in real-timeevents withinDestiny 2.
The Flower Game in Destiny 2 Lore
According toUnveiling, the Flower Game is played between advanced ontological mathematical principles in the form of theGardener and the Winnowerin a primordial Garden before the universe began. In the morning, the Gardener would plant seeds; at night, the Winnower harvests and shapes what would live and culls what would die. During the day, the two would play a flower game - in which the garden represented all possible universe creation, expansion, and extinction.
As the Flower Game proceeded, one final shape would eventually emerge, self-replicating and ultimately consuming all other patterns and conditions in the game. The Winnower found this satisfying and representative of a natural outcome. The Gardener found it boring, insisting that the novel patterns should continue to form to create endless harmonic shapes. To thwart this final shape, the Gardener inserted itself as a rule into the game, becoming the Light, leaving the Winnower no choice but to do the same asthe Darkness. The original rules were then set aside.
The battle between these two paracausal forces, now inhabiting the game as rules, destroyed the garden, which ruptured space-time and allowed multiple universes to become a reality. This was seen in Big Bangs, physics, and causality. The original rules of the Flower Game, which had been set aside when the Gardener and WInnower entered the game, becameDestiny 2’s Vex- which aligns with their time-traveling, self-replicating capabilities and desires to consume all enemies, much as the original final shape finished all patterns in the Flower Game.
As such, the fact that the Traveler is capable of shooting Light beams that create flowers and trees might be a manifestation of the Flower Game. Similarly, the Witness being capable of “cutting” anything into slices might be a nod to the Winnower reaping those flowers, even though it remains to be seen how exactly this could further impact the narrative.
Destiny 2is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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