Bite-sized Backstory is an ongoing guide to the incredible stories contained within the Grimoire Cards and Lore Books of Bungie’s Destiny.

Select one of the following entry points to get started:

History of the Hive

History of the Eliksni

History of the Awoken

History of The Last Word


Bite-sized Backstory 27: Whirlwind & Rain

The Fallen are ruthless scavengers. Brutal and uncaring, they arrived on their massive Ketches in the wake of the Collapse to loot and pillage our devastated worlds. – The Fallen By the time Destiny’s story ends, it is clear that the Fallen have it the worst out of all the races we’ve met. Once the combined forces of the City and the Reef, not to mention the Vex, Hive, and Cabal, are…


Bite-sized Backstory 26: The Last Musings of Oryx

We’re finally at the end of the Books of Sorrow. This final chapter seems to be written from Oryx’s point of view as he muses on all that he has done. First we see (Oryx’s?) Hive restate their belief in the form of an open letter to the things they plan to kill. It’s the same basic thing where they say that building safe spaces for cooperation is a fatal lie because the universe only…


Bite-sized Backstory 25: The Harmony and the Ahamkara

The Defeat of the Harmony We don’t know if the Harmony knew about the Hive, or the hundreds of civilizations they’d made extinct. It’s possible they saw the Hive coming and prepared as best they could. One day the Harmony must have been at peace, and the next they faced one of the greatest threats the galaxy has ever seen. And to be honest, they did pretty well, all things considered. But then,…


Bite-sized Backstory 24: The Gift Mast and Dragons?!

Oryx had gotten what he wanted. What he’d been seeking for a long, long time. In the wake of his victory over Quria, Blade Transform, he finally had the location of the Gift Mast. Soon, he has all of the Hive gather for a major assault. When his sister Savathûn arrives at their staging area, Oryx goes to visit with her. I think the only way to describe Oryx’s mood as he converses with his sister…


Bite-sized Backstory 23: End of Failed Timeline

With his new, powerful Dreadnaught complete, Oryx sets out to accomplish two of the last objectives we’ll hear about: Hunting down the Nicha Thought-ship and discovering the location of the Gift Mast. These last two objectives are… interesting… because we’ve so heard very little about them. The first we hear of the Nicha Thought-ship is after Oryx’s twin daughters have grown up and become…


Bite-sized Backstory 22: Crota’s Punishment and Oryx’s Plans

Upon hearing Eri’s call to set his house in order, Oryx returns home and quickly overwhelms the Vex pouring into his throne world. The power the Vex had gained through killing and worship was nowhere near a match for the powers that Oryx possessed. As is typical, Oryx took some of the Vex and turned them against each other. We are told that Quria, Blade Transform, the Vex mind in charge of the…


Bite-sized Backstory 21: The Origin of the Vex

As Oryx’s daughters grow older, they continue to increase their knowledge and dig deeper into their powers and abilities. At some point a few years or maybe centuries later after their birth, Oryx came across his daughters experimenting with death and a Hive wound that they cut between places. When questioned about what they were doing, Oryx’s daughters tell him that they are working on a way to…


Bite-sized Backstory 20: The Eater of Hope and His Sisters

Following his meeting with the Deep (which Destiny players would know better as the Darkness) and his betrayal by his sisters, Oryx somehow manages fight his way back to his throne world and the physical world. This may have been possible because, as mentioned last time, Xivu Arath described the nature of her brother just like he once described her and her sister after killing them during the war…


Bite-sized Backstory 19: Betrayal & Dreams of Teeth

Coming out of the Deep’s friendly monologue to Oryx, we immediately move into an odd dream sequence. This dream is told form Oryx’s point of view and takes us back to his childhood back at the Osmium Court. In this dream, Oryx (or should we can him Aurash?) is heading to his father’s orrery when he notices his sisters are chasing after him. They are ripping up the road behind him with their…


Bite-sized Backstory 18: Majestic Battles and Waves

After defeating the Taishibethi, Oryx returns to his throne world and makes preparations to have his first direct meeting with the Deep. He creates a special alter for the Deep and prepares an unborn ogre for it to possess. We’ve seen unborn ogres several times in Destiny. You might know them better as Tomb Husks. When he is ready, Oryx calls out to the deep saying: I can see you in the sky. You…