Review
In the next chapter of Destiny 2, The Edge of Fate, Guardians will venture to the far reaches of the system in search of the Nine. A strange, cosmic cabal of space entities, the Nine have been present since the game’s earliest days, presenting generous gifts in exchange for studying humanity from a distance. But sometimes, the Nine need to get their feet on the ground, and this requires a mortal vessel, an Emissary of the Nine.
All the players who watched the recent trailers for Destiny 2’s next expansion will have first seen a mysterious floating figure, offering a cryptic invitation, before bursting out of her own skin. Many newer players may not know who this is at all, as she hasn’t been in the story recently, and such an explosive entry definitely deserves an explanation. Known as Orin, the Emissary of the Nine, she has been the enigmatic faction’s mouthpiece for many years, but her entire past goes further back than just her history with the Nine.
The Emissary of the Nine’s Past Is One of Tragedy in Destiny 2
The Emissary’s story begins way back in the days before the Great Collapse, and she has had many names in the past. Before she was the Emissary, she was Orin, and before she was Orin, she was Nasan Ar, and even before then, she was Nasyar Sarwar, a human woman on Earth in the final years of the Golden Age. With a sense of adventure that seemed innate, Nasyar boarded an Exodus ship to travel to a far-off system. With few possessions to her name save a silver urn of her mother’s ashes, she joined the crew of the Yang Liwei, teaching her coworkers bits of language to help them communicate.
The Birth of the Awoken
Although she did not get a space in a cryopod, it did not matter, as soon after leaving Earth, the Black Fleet arrived, searching for the Traveller. Caught in the crossfire between Light and Darkness, the Yang Liwei was lost in a singularity, and Nasyar Sarwar became Nasan Ar, an Awoken in the Distributary. With no memory of her past life, and no idea what the silver urn was for, she clasped it close, setting up a new life in this paradise. But this too did not last long, as Nasan Ar craved adventure, befriending Sjur Eido, the Awoken Queen’s closest friend, who noted the gift she had in mediating disputes.
Soon, Nasan entered Mara’s service, ing her out of the Distributary and into the Reef, although the two did not always see eye to eye. In an attempt to pass on Mara’s will to the Awoken on Earth, Nasan left for the old homeworld of humanity, but she was not prepared for the brutality of life there, and was killed. Rising as a Lightbearer, her life forgotten again, she asked her ghost to name her, and he named her Orin.
Orin’s New Life as a Guardian
Orin spent decades on Earth, joining up with the Pilgrim Guard, searching for answers about her Awoken heritage, making a few friends along the way, including a short fling with another Risen, Eli. Eventually, the group made it to the Last City, finding it to be nothing more than tents beneath the Traveller, where she stayed to help build the burgeoning settlement. Her search for more Awoken continued, until she met Namqi, an Awoken pilot from the Reef, who she convinced to smuggle her back to the outpost of the Awoken in the asteroid belt.
Upon meeting Mara Sov, Orin did not re-enter the queen’s service. Instead, she would answer when Mara wanted an unspecified favor called in. It would be centuries before that time, with Namqi and Orin exploring every part of the Solar system they could together. But when the day came for Mara to call in her favor, everything changed. Sjur Eido had died, and on her body was a Strange Coin. Mara asked Orin to investigate, eventually cornering a tentacle-faced being below the moon, that, when she tried to kill it in a rage, simply disappeared, leaving behind the ashes of Orin’s mother, a trinket that she did not recognize.
The fallout of this meeting was dire for Orin, who began to hear voices calling her, feeling phantom reminders of her encounter. Her ghost, Namqi, and Mara all urged her to stop, the stress of searching for Sjur’s killer and the Nine’s influence sending her into a spiral. Disappearing for months at a time, she came home one day to find that Namqi had died, and her grief led her to confide in a new friend, Wu Ming, who claimed to have known Namqi. But she soon discovered the truth. Wu Ming was the very same Eli she had met centuries ago, and now went by The Drifter. Feeling betrayed, Orin left the Reef just as Ghaul extinguished the Traveller’s Light, and she became prey to the Nine’s influence.
Becoming the Emissary of the Nine
The Guardian has agency like you wouldn’t believe. They can leave this place. Think bigger. They can leave this game.
Upon meeting the Nine directly, they tested her, saying she must find three worthy keys, although the meeting almost drove her to insanity. Now in the service of the Nine, Orin was transformed into the Emissary of the Nine, becoming a shell for their will, although some of her personality remained. She visited The Drifter onboard The Derelict, gifting him The Haul from the Nine. The Nine then plagued The Drifter with visions of the Pyramids, instructing him to keep playing Gambit. The Emissary would visit many important characters, such as Mara Sov, and warned the Guardian of their coming role in the fight between Light and Darkness.
As The Witness was defeated, and Echoes spread across the Solar System, the Nine watched and waited. Calling to all Guardians, they invited them to Kepler, a small planetoid in the Oort Cloud. But this was the last act of the Emissary, as moments later, Orin broke free from their grip, now her own free agent once again, alone, and embittered. What happens next isn’t known, but players can find out in the upcoming expansion The Edge of Fate, where the Nine will be playing a very large part in Destiny’s future.
