In the world of Destiny, the concept of the Light and the Darkness has been given a great deal of focus over the past few expansions. Much has been done to provide explanations and advancements in the thought surround the Light. Questions such as, "What the Light is?", "How is the Light wielded?", "How are the Light and the Darkness different from one another?", and “How are they different from non-paracausal space?" have been interwoven into the narratives of every expansion since Shadowkeep. Beyond the room for advancement left by the original Destiny game released in 2014, much has also been done to stray from the original conceptions of these otherworldly forces. From the widespread adoption of the term "Paracausality", to the reduction of grounding in the scope of Destiny's main narrative, the success or failure of The Last City's forces relies less and less upon its own virtues, and instead rely increasingly on metaphysical intercession. The connection between the physical and metaphysical components of Destiny’s magical system is no longer that of previous installments and is less impact as a result. As the story of Destiny reached the Shadowkeep expansion, a years long story line was truly set into motion. Humanity came into direct contact with the Traveler's ancient enemy. No longer was the enemy ambiguous, instead he was right in your face, depicting doom and gloom if one did not give up the fight on the side of the Light. This moment signified the beginning of the departure from the mystery of the Darkness and the Light. Previously, the Darkness could not be directly identified. Was it a physical force, as Saint-14 once described? Was it a metaphysical corruption that poisoned virtue, as Pujari theorized from his dreams? One answer could not be distinguished from another. Perhaps it was all encompassing, or perhaps it was one answer too obscured to define. This reveal in Shadowkeep's campaign did not shatter the veil, but it did set up the piercing narrative that would unfold with the coming story lines from later expansions. In the midst of 2020, the Beyond Light campaign was revealed. For the first time in the history of Destiny, the player character would be able to not only begin to understand Darkness as a force beyond the physical enemy that threatened the forces of the Last City, but would also be able to wield Darkness. This abruptly eliminated the distinction between the Light and the Dark as good and evil. If the light, or even the Traveler was not drawn solely to, or an emblem of, the good, then Humanity would lose its place as a people uniquely for virtue. Additionally, the Darkness and Light were identified as being primarily different in regards to metaphysical differences as the Light and the Darkness adopted a place beyond the causality of the in world existence. True levels of power of Light and Dark were known as "paracausal", and mere matter was nowhere near sufficient to reach similar levels of power. Savathun famously chided us for the utilization of weapons such as "guns and armor" that would have little effect on gods such as her compared to the paracausal powers of beings such as her and the Guardian addressed by her whilst trapped in the crystal prison. This departure of the Light and the Dark from the physical plane as well as from notions of good and evil allowed for further in-universe events down this line of thinking to occur. With the next expansion on the horizon, it would be revealed that Humanity would no longer be the sole wielders of the Light, with the resurrection of Savathun and her Lucent Brood. As revealed in the campaign, Savathun, instead of acquiring it through some trick or deception, was willingly given the Light by a Ghost, who both to this day have not received some sanction or excommunication for wrongdoing by the Traveler. Despite Her and her brood’s countless vile crimes in the name of their own survival, the Traveler was rendered as impotent and uncaring as a child; a being unable or unwilling to enforce any standard upon reality and in that inaction distancing itself from reality as a whole. All this occurring, whilst the ancient enemy of the Traveler was given a face and a name: The Witness. This enemy may have been evil, but evil itself was not something the Traveler stood against any longer. Thus it could be gleaned that the Traveler no longer stood for good or virtue, and certainly not physical virtue, only survival. With the arrival of the Witness and the battle against it now in full swing, the fight against it would be the highlight of the next expansions. The gains in this battle, however, necessarily were made not on the battlefield with martial might of man, but with the paracausal powers of light and dark. The physical and the metaphysical were cleaved from one another long before and in this battle only one could be seen as viable avenues for success. Strand, a metaphysical darkness power, would take center stage as the difference maker in the battles against the Shadow Legion and the disciple Calus. In the Final Shape, Prismatic and the boons of the Light were what won the day against The Witness. All the while, those of Humanity who were not Guardians were deemed light-less and could not hope to provide any more of a fight than a fly against a swatter. Yet, taking their place in the final fight, were those other races elevated into similar station as Humanity, despite their clear placement as enemies of Humanity, enforcing Humanity’s reduction into a relativistic equality without a unique virtue to uplift them. So pointless were the FOTC, that a newly light-less Zavala, once such a beacon of the goodness of the fight of Humanity, was reduced to needing the powers of Stasis to make a significant impact in against the forces of the Witness. Ultimately, a great deal of the grounding found in Destiny’s divine power has been diminished. This lower state does not captivate or inspire in ways that previous conceptions of The Last City’s power and the Light did. It leaves us with questions such as “What does it mean to increase in the game’s power level? Do I get any more powerful, or is that just a gift of some impersonal force? There still exists a chance to change this impersonal and relativistic way of defining power and the Light in Destiny, but it will need to be made to make a compelling story. After all, are the words of Pujari not true and inspiring when he states, "Your Light drives your armor. Do not speak of yourself as separate from the plate." We must remember the first, and most powerful thing endowed by the Light is not arcs of lightning, void filled explosions, or even a shot from a Golden Gun, but a chance to live again. I write this as a faithful player of the franchise and the story. May this guide your hand Bungie. A Warrior Scholar, Erit Fortis