I get the idea that the Speaker is a human (or at least was) that is "speaking for" the Traveler, not the traveler itself.

Right.

If one imagines Marathon Infinity's universe ending not just with the fusion of Durandal and Thoth, but also the Security Officer, then the interpretation of the Traveler in this universe being that entity could be made to make some kind of sense.

Hmm... I always thought Durandal/Thoth fusing was the beginning of one entity. I never got the impression that the Security Officer was part of that, since at the end, he is referred to as an other by Durandal in that final soliloquy.

Unless the Speaker arrived with the Traveler, though, there's little reason to suspect him of being that entity, and if he was, what was he doing of significance between his arriving in this universe and the Traveler arriving at Earth?

Wake me when you need me, and all that kind of stuff. Not like it wasn't done in the Marathon story arc.

It makes more sense if the end of the Marathon Infinity universe is the disrupting force that propels events in the Destiny universe-- Durandal/Thoth, the SO, and the W'rkncacnter all escape the closure into the Destiny universe. Durandal instinctively seeks out the Earth in this universe due to his unending obsession with humanity.

Yes, this. There seems to be some truth behind the idea of the Darkness pursuing the Traveller over great distances, so from those considerations it's not a huge stretch to think interdimensionally. Originally I had thought that the Traveller was eons in the process of keeping the Light (and life itself) alive here and there throughout the universe by way of uplift efforts against the Darkness, but the idea of the W'rkncacnter pursuing our heroes to Destiny's Earth is pretty compelling.

The W'rkncacnter also arrive and pursue him to Earth, on the way collecting such evil allies as it can: the Hive, the Fallen, etc.

The efforts of "the darkness" disable the Traveler and it goes dark, with only its cyborg emissary, the Speaker (Security Officer) to speak and act for it.

Bingo.

Personally my own interpretation is that all the forces aligned with the Darkness are actually returning human colonists, corrupted by the darkness and coming home to roost. It explains their interest in the Earth, the fact that all are roughly bipedal in shape. Perhaps the Traveler even made them into what they are, and they are seeking revenge. Perhaps they are the end product of the process begun by the Traveler when he arrived at Earth, having followed the paths of their outgoing colonists like breadcrumbs in the forest.

Most of this is akin to some ideas that have occurred to me as well, particularly focusing on the bipedal physiology. It seems strange that each of the races have such different philosophies, though. The Fallen seem to praise the scaveneged technology and remnants of whatever civilization begot the Servitors (but who else do we know that's round and floaty?). Meanwhile, the Hive seem driven by black magic, almost. My impression is that it's greed for the Cabal, though there's been little I'm aware of that argues in any particular direction for them. And the Vex are a pretty big question mark, as well.

Especially with all the fighting between those factions, I have a hard time seeing what unifies them against humanity. Still hoping for some manifestation of the Darkness to actually align them in gameplay, like the Flood did for all bodies in Halo.

It's not as if the process of resurrecting the long dead in order to give them super powers ever turns out really well in the long term.

Never, really.

~m

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