For the next several years Jaren Ward stays at Palamon after freeing it from Magistrate Loken. We know that Shin Malphur thought of him as the town’s savior and eventually came to think of Jaren as a friend and father figure.
The Fallen were still a major problem for Palamon, however. It sounds like the town gets hit hard by Fallen raiders again. Jaren Ward and a few of the toughest survivors leave to give chase and possibly to prevent that group of Fallen from coming back. Four days later, someone new comes to what was left of the town. This man is tall and dark and solemn. Shin recalls that there was an intense sadness about him, but that he was polite and took up a room. This is Shin Malphur’s first time meeting Dredgen Yor.
Something happens soon after and we find Shin and a few others out in the wilderness having put Palamon’s “ash” to their backs. The lines get a bit hard to read between, but we learn that Shin and those with him were seeking vengeance for something. Could just be the fallen attack, but I think there’s a strong chance they are hunting Dredgen Yor. We have another transcript featuring the corrupted Guardian being drawn into a loud conversation with some local bandits one of which wants to see his gun, Thorn.
[u.1:0.1] Can I see what you got there?
[silence]
[u.1:0.2] Yer cannon…can I see it?
[beat]
[u.2:0.1] I know you?
[beat]
[u.1:0.3] Not that I can say.
[u.2:0.2] And you wanna hold my piece?
[beat]
[u.1:0.4] Just that I never…seen one like it.
[beat]
[u.2:0.3] No, you haven’t.
[u.1:0.5] Looks dangerous.
[u.2:0.4] Seems, maybe, that’s the point.
[u.1:0.6] Suppose so.
[u.1:0.7] Can I see it?
[u.2:0.5] Not likely.
Dredgen Yor banters with the leader of this group of four men for a bit and takes it unkindly when the leader states as “fact” that no one has ever been to the moon. The men begin to threaten Dredgen Yor and after warning them off in his own sort of way Yor finally has enough of their tough guy acts and guns three of them down. He saves the leader for last. This man who had wanted a look at Thorn now gets to stare down its barrel as Dredgen Yor explains to him about the nightmares of the Hive and how they will soon be coming for them all. And then the leader, too, is murdered.
Now, there is nothing that directly says this sorta old west bar room “conversation” happened in Palamon, but just nine days after Palamon is reduced to ash Shin Malphur and his group of Palamon survivors encounter Dredgen Yor again. I don’t think they were hunting Fallen because Shin notes that they had accidentally wandered into Fallen territory as they tracked the trail of something or someone. Along the way, some of Shin’s group are killed, “gunned down”, we’re told. But, what’s left of Shin’s group also meet up with Jaren Ward, and together they continue tracking their target. Jaren has an intense confidence that keeps the group going even though hope seems to be lost. But then, everything falls apart late one night.
A crack of gun fire then several more echo through the woods… These shots sound familiar, perhaps even comforting to the group. They’ve come from Jaren Ward’s prized hand cannon, but, tragically, they are not the last word this time, as one sickly, unfamiliar shot answers Jaren’s several. Afterward, there is only silence.
Everyone back at Shin’s camp knows what has happened. Jaren had gone out alone to engage “the other”, the same thing Shin termed Dredgen Yor when he met him, but this time Jaren Ward was not coming back. Those with Shin soon leave fearful for their lives. Shin, though, stays and searches for his mentor. Shin doesn’t find Jaren Ward, at least not at first. Instead, he finds Jaren’s still very much alive Ghost. The Ghost has something for Shin: Jaren Ward’s hand cannon. Dredgen Yor left it for Shin. How do we know? Because Dredgen Yor and Jaren Ward’s Ghost have a little conversation after Yor permanently kills Jaren Ward with a single shot from Thorn. The conversation between the two is interesting for a few reasons:
- Both the Ghost and Dredgen Yor agree that Shin Malphur is special. We know that of course, since we know Shin’s history of being revived in the Light by his long lost Ghost when he was nothing more than a baby. But we’ve also gotten some little indications that Jaren Ward and his Ghost knew Shin was special. We now learn that Dredgen Yor knew, as well.
- Dredgen Yor tells Jaren Ward’s Ghost to give his Guardian’s gun to Shin Malphur. Yor calls it a gift. He calls it giving the apprentice his master’s sword. The Ghost thinks that Yor is mostly just trying to further anger and sadden Shin.
- Jaren Ward’s Ghost calls Dredgen Yor a monster. Yor responds by alluding back to when his own Ghost called him that before they parted ways.
- Jaren Ward’s Ghost also argues that Dredgen Yor is not just a monster or an evil force of nature, but that he’s still a man that can be killed. And Dredgen Yor agrees that, yes, in that there is a sliver of hope.
Now there are two ways to look at this forth point, and I think both are valid. On one hand, Dredgen Yor is someone we have quoted as saying “Nothing dies like hope.” He is probably gifting Jaren Ward’s gun to Shin Malphur to fuel that hope so he can crush it too.
But, and we’ll get into this a whole lot more very soon, Dredgen Yor is also agreeing that there is hope that maybe he still is a man who can be stopped, who can be killed. It will take someone very special to stop him, Dredgen Yor knows, and maybe he thinks he’s found that person in Shin Malphur.
Next time I get to take y’all through one of my very favorite encounters in all of Destiny: The Showdown at Dwindler’s Ridge!
Ghost Fragment: The Last Word 4
Ghost Fragment: Thorn 2
Ghost Fragment: Thorn 3
Ghost Fragment: Thorn 4