It's all objective. The Traveler wants a utopia universe full of eternal Golden Ages. The Darkness wants a kill-or-be-killed universe, where only the most ruthless are worthy of the simple act of existence. One brought us a Golden Age and protected us, one brought only death and destruction. Which is "good" and which is "evil" to us?

Well to "us" specifically the answer is obvious. As for the mind sets of the Traveler v Darkness. I think it's a little deeper then that. The Universe has dictated that only the strongest survive/should exist. (Not necessarily by cruelty or malice) This is Truth. The Darkness has interpreted this as only by being the most ruthless thing in the universe, by destroying all other things and being the strongest thus proving its dominance and its place as the fittest. Only then can it achieve the Universes Truth. The Traveler has interpreted it differently. It believes that it can achieve this Truth (and I'm sorry but I'm not quite sure how to write this correctly so I'm just gona shot in the dark) by being as good as it can be. By creating this Utopia and being the greatest thing in existence thus proving its dominance and its place as the fittest. If either side won, would either of them be wrong? Would it make any difference. The Universe's one Truth would still be answered.

[quote]The Darkness has interpreted this as only by being the most ruthless thing in the universe, by destroying all other things and being the strongest thus proving its dominance and its place as the fittest. Only then can it achieve the Universes Truth. The Traveler has interpreted it differently. It believes that it can achieve this Truth (and I'm sorry but I'm not quite sure how to write this correctly so I'm just gona shot in the dark) by being as good as it can be. By creating this Utopia and being the greatest thing in existence thus proving its dominance and its place as the fittest. [/quote] I like that. It's quite like two entities argue about different philosophies. "Peace over competition is self evolving." "Fighting your way to the top is superior.' In the end it is about power as a source of energy and of course the domination you wrote about. I dunno I just wanted to share my thougths on this.

Thank you :) I actually put a lot of thought into this while writing and actually had more to go with it. Unfortunately I'm not the best writer so I couldn't really figure out how to convey what was in my head on paper.

Simplification could be inhabitant of the strongest message. I like your idea because you evolve from the "good vs evil" (or in this case "light vs darkness" yadda yadda you know what I mean) mechanic and bring up the next step. Let's face it behind every intention is a philosophy may it be thinnest of air. So we have the worms and our beloved little golf ball (as OP called the traveler) with plans and ideas and goals and each of them did it with honourable intentions. This is my opinion of course but I think you brought this up on the table. Another writer posted (EDIT: You are the writer I am reffering to. I'm sorry) about the laws of the universe which is not that esoterical as it might sound. Let me add a spoiler here because I like to bring up some weird ideas now [spoiler]If we switch from game logic to real world there are two popular opinions made up by big names (oh boy I hope I don't struck a nerve now). On the one hand we have "Survival of the fittest" Darwins attempt to show the beauty and the cruelty of nature's law. On the other hand we have "Life is suffering" or the four noble truths found in the buddhistic philosophy where siddharta gautama buddha claims greed, hate and infatuation. If you compare these ideas with a bigger picture, the law of the universe, you get a glimpse why two different entities would start to fight as agitated as the fictional factions shown in destiny. These are of course only my ideas on the topic compared with knowledge I encountered whilst I had too much time at the local coffee house (second hand books about everything and free wifi)[/spoiler] I'd like to know more why oryx got involved with the worms. I know many answers are found in the books of sorrow and I found 42 fragments ingame so far but I want to read it when I fou d them all. So far I'm just a sci fi nerd with good jntentions I hope.

But one would achieve it through peace and harmony, the other through war and extinction

Yes, yes philosophy and all that. Not really. There is, believe it or not, definitions of these things. And popular opinion. To science it, we'll remove it from the context of Destiny, as to remove bias. Someone comes in your house. Steals your stuff, claims it as their own. They kill your pets, your kids, your wife. All you have is a closet in your room. Are they the bad guy? Answer: the popular opinion would probably be yes. What if they didn't know they were being bad? Or what if doing all that made them happy? Are they still bad? Answer: the answer would probably still be yes.

Not to the guy killing your puppy. Popular consensus does not equal absolution.

No, but it's a good indicator. Especially if the popular consensus is taken from a neutral point of view.