Related: Great read regarding the Fallen (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, December 12, 2019, 22:35 (1589 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Do you have the Grimoire Vol 2 book? There's a great new story in there.

Saint-14 attacked a group of Fallen who had made a home far from the wars taking place on Earth and in the Reef. Their leader known as the Baron of Shanks woke to his people being slaughtered by Saint-14 and his fireteam. The baron had built a ton of powerful shanks and they put up a really good fight but could not stop the Guardians so this baron leads Saint-14 into a sealed bunker and puts a forcefield between himself and Saint-14, like the barrier between the Jedi and Darth Maul in Episode 1, and they… talk.

Mostly, they just ask questions back and forth. The Fallen Baron asks Saint-14 why he has been leading his unending campaign against the Eliksni. Saint-14 asks if the Baron knows what gift the Traveler gave to the Eliksni back during their version of the Golden Age. Near the end, the baron tells Saint-14 he thinks he can kill him and his Ghost by detonating the entire bunker in one huge blast. He might have even been right since Saint-14 accepts this saying it would be a fair trade because the blast would also kill the baron and then Saint-14's fireteams would be safe. But then this Baron of Shanks asks a profound question:

Do you think that if I allowed you to live the Great Machine would bless us again?

Saint-14 doesn't really respond, but it's clear the baron has changed his mind about fighting Guardians. He turns off the shield between himself and Sain-14 and opens the blast doors and Saint-14 looms over him... but then leaves peacefully. One Fallen, at least, was redeemable in Saint-14's eyes even though he continues to hunt them everywhere else…

I really like the Fallen lore in the past few releases. We're really getting to see how desperate and scared they are. And we're seeing the terrible tole our solar system and its inhabitants have had on what was left of the Fallen. They are close to being extinct now and any that are alive are fighting a losing battle against Guardians and Hive and Vex and Cabal and each other... It's a very tragic story for them.

(Oh, also, the Grimoire has an illustration of that moment where Cayde-6 and the Fallen Captain fought side by side against a wave of Hive that attacked them on the moon. I got a kick out of seeing this!)