So... looks like some folks who were able to get their hands on the collectors edition physical items have recently done so, and now the net is flooding with codes and content.

Codes First (No use limit. Will require a return to bungie.net after Destiny 2: Beyond Light has released to claim your emblem.)

• Destiny 2 Emblem - Cryonautics - RA9XPH6KJ
  
• Destiny 2 Emblem - Galilean Excursion - JYNJAAY7D
  
• Destiny 2 Emblem - Future In Shadow - 7LVGTKT7J

Lore

50 Images of the Book the comes with the collectors edition. Pretty cool!

Edit: Reading some of this now... and they did it. The mad lads did it. Pfhor! Pfhor!!! LOL.

Darkness Shard Video

pic.twitter.com/oMjJTloG3T

— Melmsie (@realmelmsie) October 20, 2020

Yes, PFHOR was hilarious. It's an acronym, not an actual reference to the Marathon aliens. But still. We know.

On the bigger details... spoilered as this might play heavily into the main story:

The collectors book is logs of THE Clovis Bray, Father of Anton Bray, Grandfather of Wilhelmina (Willa) and Elisabeth (Elise) Bray. He picked up signals from the Darkness at the research facilities on the Moon (see the Lost Sectors on the Moon, and the collectors book that came with Shadowkeep...) and believes something he calls "Clarity" is directing him to Europa.

On Europa he finds strange life forms and what is almost certainly buried Darkness, perhaps a Pyramid like on the Moon. Clovis Bray is dying, has been for a long time, and has been using all sorts of advanced techniques to keep himself alive. His goal on Europa is to gain immortality. Or, as he puts it, he wants "a chance to pass beyond the infinite, and escape the tyranny of causal closure." (Yet another Destiny and Bungie figure trying to escape the end of the universe!)

He begins a major project to design a perfect Exo for himself. A project he eventually refers to as the Deep Stone Crypt. One that doesn't suffer from needing to be wiped and rebooted. His main method of achieving this goal is to combine Vex mindfluid with the power of the Darkness to use as a truly random seed for the overly orderly/mechanical Exo brain hardware. During all this, he convinces Elise to join him as she is dying from a strange disease that all the tech and power of the Golden Age cannot stop. The ultimate plan is to move himself and her to these perfect Exos once the project is ready.

The book ends (with pages seemingly torn out!) as Clovis Bray nears completion of his perfect Exos. He made and released several prototypes (almost certainly all the Exos we know about today) but they all had flaws. Even his best exo suffered a horrible psychotic mind crash... and that's all we know.

During the course of all his preparation and research, Clovis Bray, Elise Bray, and Maya Sundaresh at one point captured a Vex and had it build a Vex gate on Europa. Through that gate they found one of the most amazing sci-fi mega structures I've ever heard of. Apparently the Vex were present in the very early days (eons?) of our universe and needed a way to make heavier elements beyond hydrogen. Instead of waiting for stars to eventually go supernova and spread heavy elements across the universe, they constructed numerous massive structures above a supergiant star. These structures, which ran for millions of years, used the star to fuse together hydrogen into useful heavier elements, then extracted those elements and replaced them with more hydrogen. They essentially turned a star into a forge and prevented it from collapsing into a supernova but constantly refueling it! All to get the materials they needed for other massively huge projects at a time when such materials did not really exist anywhere in the universe!

In the end, Clovis Bray's fate is unknown, as are Maya's and Elise's, but there was nothing to suggest that he or they failed in their reach for immortality. That we have the Exo Stranger and Maya Sundaresh still around (Maya keeps coming up in lore, the Exo Stranger, who I've had to concede is Elsie, is obviously back) points to at least some success. Interestingly, time travel is never really touched on, and past lore seems to show the Exo Stranger is capable of some form of time travel.

So... strong ties back to previous lore, some questions that have existed from since before Destiny finally answered, and plenty of just plain awesome sci-fi writing throughout. Do read the photos of the book linked by INSANEdrive if you aren't buying the collectors edition. It is very, very good.

One again, I’m left wishing Destiny was crafted in a way so that literally any of that meant anything to me. It all sounds fascinating, but I shouldn’t have pretend like I’m researching a PhD thesis to keep up.

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One again, I’m left wishing Destiny was crafted in a way so that literally any of that meant anything to me. It all sounds fascinating, but I shouldn’t have pretend like I’m researching a PhD thesis to keep up.

I really like the committal to text format to tell the truly expansive backstory stuff, but I really wish these journal-style things, as well as the narrative previews before each season, eventually made their way into the game as lore books. Because of this, Ishtar Collective is still missing things like the Cabal booklet that came with the Collector's Edition of base D2.

I guess my disappointment really stems from the “main” story of the game. I like the lore books, too, and I’m very happy they exist.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the terminals in Halo 3, or the data pads in Reach. But those were fine because the actual story of the game was still complete and good without those things. They felt like extras instead of requirements. In Destiny, if you don’t keep up with the lore books, you get fuck all for actual story, with the very rare exception like saving Saint-14.

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One again, I’m left wishing Destiny was crafted in a way so that literally any of that meant anything to me. It all sounds fascinating, but I shouldn’t have pretend like I’m researching a PhD thesis to keep up.

I understand the frustration, and understand the want to an alternate simpler source. It is very jargony, but, than again it is supposed to be a record of messages from one of the top scientific minds of the entire golden age. For it not feel like requiring a PH.D thesis would be antithetical to the story and viewpoint it is trying to tell.

You probably already know that though.

One again, I’m left wishing Destiny was crafted in a way so that literally any of that meant anything to me. It all sounds fascinating, but I shouldn’t have pretend like I’m researching a PhD thesis to keep up.

I understand the frustration, and understand the want to an alternate simpler source. It is very jargony, but, than again it is supposed to be a record of messages from one of the top scientific minds of the entire golden age. For it not feel like requiring a PH.D thesis would be antithetical to the story and viewpoint it is trying to tell.

You probably already know that though.

I don’t mean the way this specific piece of fiction is written—I mean the amount of work required to extract any amount of story from the video game Destiny.

I took the SPOILER tags off, as there is no "turn off" function in preview. I have tagged my post accordingly.

Yes, PFHOR was hilarious. It's an acronym, not an actual reference to the Marathon aliens. But still. We know.

On the bigger details... spoilered as this might play heavily into the main story:

I will be very very surprised if this does not at least play heavily into the raid at least. I now have expectations in possibility of what shall be encountered, though I don't expect it will give much of an edge. In fact, if there is story... and I currently presume there shall be, I think having read this text will allow me to appreciate it more.

The collectors book is logs of THE Clovis Bray, Father of Anton Bray, Grandfather of Wilhelmina (Willa) and Elisabeth (Elise) Bray. He picked up signals from the Darkness at the research facilities on the Moon (see the Lost Sectors on the Moon, and the collectors book that came with Shadowkeep...) and believes something he calls "Clarity" is directing him to Europa.

There is alot of talk about the K1 artifact in this as well, AKA "The Anomaly" we see in the center of the PvP map of said name. As for the name "Clarity"? For a man who seems such an ugly perfectionist, so narrow minded in his brilliant outlook, it's interesting his experiences would have him conclude the name "Clarity" for the phenomena. So many others would call it a Nightmare.

On Europa he finds strange life forms and what is almost certainly buried Darkness, perhaps a Pyramid like on the Moon. Clovis Bray is dying, has been for a long time, and has been using all sorts of advanced techniques to keep himself alive. His goal on Europa is to gain immortality. Or, as he puts it, he wants "a chance to pass beyond the infinite, and escape the tyranny of causal closure." (Yet another Destiny and Bungie figure trying to escape the end of the universe!)

Before it was revealed in the story, I used Asher as a voice. The speech patterns line up so well.

He begins a major project to design a perfect Exo for himself. A project he eventually refers to as the Deep Stone Crypt. One that doesn't suffer from needing to be wiped and rebooted. His main method of achieving this goal is to combine Vex mindfluid with the power of the Darkness to use as a truly random seed for the overly orderly/mechanical Exo brain hardware. During all this, he convinces Elise to join him as she is dying from a strange disease that all the tech and power of the Golden Age cannot stop. The ultimate plan is to move himself and her to these perfect Exos once the project is ready.

"The Bray Curse" he calls it. Basically insomnia with added side effects. Though it seems to me it's very likely that this "curse" is of his own making out of his genetic manipulation attempts in the search for perfection. In all things. Children and grandchildren alike.

The book ends (with pages seemingly torn out!) as Clovis Bray nears completion of his perfect Exos. He made and released several prototypes (almost certainly all the Exos we know about today) but they all had flaws. Even his best exo suffered a horrible psychotic mind crash... and that's all we know.

A right hellish fate, might I add. His casual view of the data, and a not a person whom was experiencing untold suffering, was quite telling. Clovis might not want to die, but parts of him are clearly already dead. Then again, it seems like the only thing that's still original and not a copy would be his brain, so I suppose that even technically such would be true.

During the course of all his preparation and research, Clovis Bray, Elise Bray, and Maya Sundaresh at one point captured a Vex and had it build a Vex gate on Europa. Through that gate they found one of the most amazing sci-fi mega structures I've ever heard of. Apparently the Vex were present in the very early days (eons?) of our universe and needed a way to make heavier elements beyond hydrogen. Instead of waiting for stars to eventually go supernova and spread heavy elements across the universe, they constructed numerous massive structures above a supergiant star. These structures, which ran for millions of years, used the star to fuse together hydrogen into useful heavier elements, then extracted those elements and replaced them with more hydrogen. They essentially turned a star into a forge and prevented it from collapsing into a supernova but constantly refueling it! All to get the materials they needed for other massively huge projects at a time when such materials did not really exist anywhere in the universe!

This was cool. Of all the things I hope to see in game... it's this. Full stop. This portion has alot of good information about the vex, including how the Vex potentially interpret the world and the particular quirks of "Vex Milk".

Need to read it again, not sure I understood it all on my first read through of this section. (I was multitasking and raiding on Leviathan as well. The down time only lasts so long.)

In the end, Clovis Bray's fate is unknown, as are Maya's and Elise's, but there was nothing to suggest that he or they failed in their reach for immortality. That we have the Exo Stranger and Maya Sundaresh still around (Maya keeps coming up in lore, the Exo Stranger, who I've had to concede is Elsie, is obviously back) points to at least some success. Interestingly, time travel is never really touched on, and past lore seems to show the Exo Stranger is capable of some form of time travel.

More and more it seems to me that time travel may, possibly, maybe be less the mechanic for what we see, and more the "alternate quantum realty" take AKA comic book story mechanics. Infinite viewable, intractable alternate choices, without the messy logical mechanics of time travel.

Than again... I've not yet read the lore on Saint-14. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So... strong ties back to previous lore, some questions that have existed from since before Destiny finally answered, and plenty of just plain awesome sci-fi writing throughout. Do read the photos of the book linked by INSANEdrive if you aren't buying the collectors edition. It is very, very good.

No interpretations about the dreams/visions? There were two of them.

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I took the SPOILER tags off, as there is no "turn off" function in preview. I have tagged my post accordingly.

Yeah. Given that the Raid is the Deep Stone Crypt, I'm pretty wary about accidentally spoiling people.

"The Bray Curse" he calls it. Basically insomnia with added side effects. Though it seems to me it's very likely that this "curse" is of his own making out of his genetic manipulation attempts in the search for perfection. In all things. Children and grandchildren alike.

It was neat how he built as close to perfect children / grandchildren as he could. Ultrasmart, ultrahealthy, but one tiny defect and all the stuff that went into keeping them healthy also made it almost impossible to cure the illness. Reminds me a bit of proposed efforts to remove Mai Hasegawa's Daodan Chrysalis in Oni.

This was cool. Of all the things I hope to see in game... it's this. Full stop. This portion has alot of good information about the vex, including how the Vex potentially interpret the world and the particular quirks of "Vex Milk".

I need to think more about that tower. Also... how the heck did the Vex exist so early? Time traveling robots, indeed!

More and more it seems to me that time travel may, possibly, maybe be less the mechanic for what we see, and more the "alternate quantum realty" take AKA comic book story mechanics. Infinite viewable, intractable alternate choices, without the messy logical mechanics of time travel.

Than again... I've not yet read the lore on Saint-14. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My theory for a while is that the Exo Stranger is using Maya Sundaresh's Lhasa, Tibet device. "We built the device in mimicry of the Vex gateway systems from Ishtar. An observatory, yes, but I think of it as a mind-ship. Capable of displacing its payload across space and time." Maybe the Exo Stranger is never with us... that her mind is displaced to an Exo in the time she wishes to be in, but only for a while before she goes back to her own time? It'll be interesting to see if her time travel powers are cleared up any more.

No interpretations about the dreams/visions? There were two of them.

I sorta skipped them for the moment. It was pretty late when I found the images. I'll look back over them later today...

I took the SPOILER tags off, as there is no "turn off" function in preview. I have tagged my post accordingly.

Yeah. Given that the Raid is the Deep Stone Crypt, I'm pretty wary about accidentally spoiling people.

It will be interesting to see if there are any Exo particular happenings inside the raid. I think it would be cool, but I'm doing my best not to hype up what may not be.

"The Bray Curse" he calls it. Basically insomnia with added side effects. Though it seems to me it's very likely that this "curse" is of his own making out of his genetic manipulation attempts in the search for perfection. In all things. Children and grandchildren alike.

It was neat how he built as close to perfect children / grandchildren as he could. Ultrasmart, ultrahealthy, but one tiny defect and all the stuff that went into keeping them healthy also made it almost impossible to cure the illness. Reminds me a bit of proposed efforts to remove Mai Hasegawa's Daodan Chrysalis in Oni.

"Their only flaw was that they were perfect." (I've never played Oni.:()

This was cool. Of all the things I hope to see in game... it's this. Full stop. This portion has alot of good information about the vex, including how the Vex potentially interpret the world and the particular quirks of "Vex Milk".

I need to think more about that tower. Also... how the heck did the Vex exist so early? Time traveling robots, indeed!

I think the root question of this would be more, "Whence did the Vex come from?"
Or... possibly, they are a third aspect of this Destiny universe, much as the Winnower/Deep is one and the Gardener/Sky is another. The Vex may be very much the Builders. Perhaps "The Nine" as well, but I've not read much lore on them yet.

More and more it seems to me that time travel may, possibly, maybe be less the mechanic for what we see, and more the "alternate quantum realty" take AKA comic book story mechanics. Infinite viewable, intractable alternate choices, without the messy logical mechanics of time travel.

Than again... I've not yet read the lore on Saint-14. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My theory for a while is that the Exo Stranger is using Maya Sundaresh's Lhasa, Tibet device. "We built the device in mimicry of the Vex gateway systems from Ishtar. An observatory, yes, but I think of it as a mind-ship. Capable of displacing its payload across space and time." Maybe the Exo Stranger is never with us... that her mind is displaced to an Exo in the time she wishes to be in, but only for a while before she goes back to her own time? It'll be interesting to see if her time travel powers are cleared up any more.

Something like "any advanced civilization would know this inefficiencies of space travel. That it would be far more efficient to send the information, and build their ships on the other side."

"Who is she talking to?"

The first dream, a vivid life after death, being immortal, and seeing Anastasia... Well... Ana is immortal, does have amnesia... Not sure about Clovis' enhanced senses, but two out of the three conditions he dreamed about are realized in every Guardian. Oh, and the dream was paracausal? No recordable physical brain activity to have sparked such a dream? Hmmmm. Sounds like perhaps it was a dream from the Traveler? Showing Clovis another way?

The Water and the Wave immediately reminds me of the early history of the Hive. Remember the God Wave that would devastate Fundament? This dream is clearly referencing back to those events. But perhaps in a twisted fashion? That Clovis is staged as the Leviathan seems wrong. The Leviathan of Fundament was a peaceful creature that argued against the three royal sisters becoming monsters. In a sense, the "aphids" of Fundament became the Hive who devastated the galaxy with war. I wonder if Clovis is being manipulated in a similar fashion... if the Darkness is trying to get him to turn Humanity into monstrous version of its former self.

The first dream, a vivid life after death, being immortal, and seeing Anastasia... Well... Ana is immortal, does have amnesia... Not sure about Clovis' enhanced senses, but two out of the three conditions he dreamed about are realized in every Guardian. Oh, and the dream was paracausal? No recordable physical brain activity to have sparked such a dream? Hmmmm. Sounds like perhaps it was a dream from the Traveler? Showing Clovis another way?

Yeah. This one felt pretty resolute. Note through that it occurred at death and that Clovis saw through his eyes as a "potentially" future self. Doesn't have to be a Guardian, shoot, it could just be a very nice Exo. Or... a falling apart one.

The Water and the Wave immediately reminds me of the early history of the Hive. Remember the God Wave that would devastate Fundament? This dream is clearly referencing back to those events. But perhaps in a twisted fashion? That Clovis is staged as the Leviathan seems wrong. The Leviathan of Fundament was a peaceful creature that argued against the three royal sisters becoming monsters. In a sense, the "aphids" of Fundament became the Hive who devastated the galaxy with war. I wonder if Clovis is being manipulated in a similar fashion... if the Darkness is trying to get him to turn Humanity into monstrous version of its former self.

This one is far more up to interpretation, as dreams are to do... and all the flaws that go with such. I have to admit, at first I thought "a bugs life" with some shifting in whos who. Kind of had to. I've not read much about the hive, so as I read it I was thinking the "aphids" were guardians and "leviathan" was the Traveler. "I gave up the control of thirst and life of those who had control. And all my craft became the pure and abstract management of power."

An interesting parity to consider, even if it's wrong.

I wanted the Collector's Edition so badly...just had some hard financial times over the past few months. By the time I had enough money for it, it was sold out.

I settled for the Digital Deluxe, but Bungie didn't even give me my 'instant' rewards. Oh well. ;-(

I settled for the Digital Deluxe, but Bungie didn't even give me my 'instant' rewards. Oh well. ;-(

Did you see this tweet?

We’re investigating an issue where Xbox players may not be able to acquire their Beyond Light pre-order items.

Players should ensure that they have their pre-order items installed by Managing their game and then visit Master Rahool in the Tower to claim them.

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) June 10, 2020

Ah, I missed it. Well, that's fine—I can wait. Honestly, I was pretty lucky to nab a copy at all. Still wanted that canteen, though...

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There is also a back up of his stuff here.