<Let me just start by saying I was GOING to make a post on my thoughts about Medusa, Quria, Dul Incaru, and Eris... but the thoughts hurt my mind and so I decided this would give me less damage. The Nine. What do we KNOW about them so far? - They're main points of interest are in the outer system (Jovian system+) - Their signals extend beyond the galaxy, specifically in the direction of the Corona-Borealis Supercluster - They are many - The true Nine haven't been seen (or have they?) - They have an aversion to Light, some regretfully (a couple of the 9 Ghosts) others thankfully. - They consider the loss of Light a gift - They are some shady mother -blam!-ers - They have spies, emissaries, and agents all over the system including Orin (TotN Emissary) and Xur (Jovian merchant) - They have ties to the Awoken in that their Jovian agents are "more heavily transformed" - Xur says that the Jovians had a choice while the Awoken didn't Now let's (re)review the old Nine grimoire card: [quote]The Nine are survivors of the cis-Jovian colonies who made a compact with an alien force to ensure their own survival. The Nine are deep-orbit warminds who weathered the Collapse in hardened stealth platforms. The Nine are ancient leviathan intelligences from the seas of Europa or the hydrocarbon pits of Titan. The Nine arrived in a mysterious transmission from the direction of the Corona-Borealis supercluster. The Nine are the firstborn Awoken and their minds now race down the field lines of the Jupiter-Io flux tube. The Nine are Ghosts who pierced the Deep Black without a ship and meditated on the hissing silence of the heliopause. The Nine are the aspects of the Darkness, broken by the Traveler's rebuke, working to destroy us from within. The Nine is a viral language of pure meaning. The Nine are the shadows left by the annihilation of a transcendent shape, burned into the weft of what is.[/quote] Now, at first, this whole thing seems like wild speculation... then things changed. When the first Trials of the Nine lore tabs went out, many people thought the Nine were the 9 Ghosts that talked to Orin. The Nine are not exactly that, as many discovered. However, a few other things in Forsaken came out and they give us something else. Perhaps the 9 Ghosts are the Nine, but so are the 9 missing crew members of the Amrita project. The Amrita project was similar to the Exodus project but had more people? Either way, all 40900 people in total. Only 40891 were documented Awoken. The other 9 were missing, and since they fell under the same conditions that Mara Sov and the others did, it's easy to assume they were also Awoken, but did not join the others. Also the number 9 really seems suspicious. BUT, one of the Nine theories said that they were Firstborn Awoken. The Amrita crew WERE the Firstborn Awoken. Those missing 9 ARE Firstborn Awoken. They are the Nine. Those 9 Ghosts who never found their Guardians (and lost their spark)? They are also part of the Nine. I think the Nine are everything on that list. I think the Nine are not entities by themselves, but a faction of beings. They speak a language of pure meaning. Their signals and their power arrived from the direction of the Corona-Borealis Supercluster. They are shadows left by the annihilation of a transcendent shape. They are 9 Firstborn Awoken. They are 9 Ghosts who came to the Deep black. They are 9 leviathan intelligences. They are 9 Deep Orbit (sub)Minds who survived the Collapse. They are survivors of a Cis-Jovian colony who made a pact with an alien force to survive (the Deep?). Most importantly, they are Aspects of Darkness working to destroy us from within. Perhaps, by fighting back, the Traveler gave itself more enemies than before. Perhaps the text and the voices documented in the TotN lore tabs are their leaders, a council of sorts. While the Nine as a name is a faction of similar-minded individuals. Does it make sense?>