Not that I would want iconography to get in the way of a good story, but... They would have to have come up with a new iconography, something that is the image of what we are about, what we try and protect, what our goal in the universe is. The image of the Traveler over the city is an amazing and memorable image, and to twist that into a panoptic structure would destroy any iconography that was built. That is not to say that iconography is about advertisement, it is used there, but it's also powerful for story telling. Having a simple icon that reminds you of a people, a building, or an event is a powerful thing. Think of the Swastica, the Rod of Acslepius, or the Cross. These are symbols that bring about stories, emotions, feeling of good, evil, and conflict.

That said, they can make the Traveler "Not the good guy" without making him "The bad guy". Just pull a Babylon 5 style philosophical conclusion. I've actually been thinking that Applying that sort of conclusion to the Destiny Universe would be amazing, and doesn't conflict with anything we know about Destiny yet.

Edit: For example, the Halo Ring was awesome iconagraphy that was neither good nor evil, but extremely dangerous. Looking at it now brings up a lot of the Halo universe plot points, and motivations and philosophies about different races. That's beautiful, and could be done with the Traveler without (I would guess) Activision caring one bit.

The Halo ring is a perfect example of why the story would not disrupt the iconography, and why this interpretation is believable. The Halos were revealed as weapons of horrific destructive force early on, and still retained their power as symbols of the series. Bungie has done this sort of change-up in the past. And that twist would only make the Traveler a more interesting icon, IMO, something beyond this childish black and white symbolism that we have right now in Destiny. If this story IS true, then Activision is staffed with busybodied halfwits. Though to be fair, they have revealed so little at this point, that the game's story could easily go in that direction.

It brought out three Vex lords from an ancient, petrified slumber. Some could say these warriors were dead. There was such an emphasis on how they came to life, with energy shot from its core, in a manner so like the Traveler's light.

The Grimoire has something to say about them :)

To Commander Zavala - My Thoughts on Recent Events
Zavala -

How like you to ask me for the bad news, even in this moment of triumph. I've finished going over that Ghost's report.

It is my hypothesis - a hypothesis at best - that the Vex saw the abominable presence at the heart of the Garden as a divine power. I can hear your protest already: how can machines have a god?

The answer is simple. The Vex, for all their voracious intelligence, could not understand or decipher what they found. They searched through all available reactions, and they settled on the course with the greatest payoff...to worship this power, and to remake themselves in its image.

I believe the three Axis Minds found in proximity to the abomination were Vex machines built to serve as vessels for this power: a way to extend its reach across space and time, binding it to the Vex, and the Vex to it. If they had succeeded, I cannot begin to guess what horrors they would have unleashed.

Attend carefully. There is cause for hope. When endangered, the abomination activated these vessels and defended itself. This tells us that it was threatened. Whatever it was, Guardians could harm it.

And it activated only a single vessel at a time. Its strength was limited. Whatever it intended, it was not ready yet.

We must assume the abomination was part of something greater. And we cannot flinch from the terrible, obvious comparison: just as the Traveler acts through us, this power was able to act through its own servants.

Let us be wary. There may be other abominations, and other vessels.

Ikora

2. Activision wanted to preserve the traveler as an aspirational image for marketing iconography, and this didn't jive with the story.

I really, REALLY doubt this. I doubt Activision gave a shit about what angle they came from. At worst they could have just did more zany adventure's with Led Zeppelin for advertising. I don't think the ads even really mention the Traveler. As far as marketing goes, all the Traveler really is is a powerful image. Looking up at that giant ball is like seeing a Halo for the first time.

If nothing else, Activision knows how to market games well. They'd have no need to intrude on the game to advertise better.

Hmm, actually, I agree with you here. The ads closer to release were largely irrelevant fluff, it seemed to me, and I don't remember seeing much of the Traveler in them.

Where are these stories coming from? Is the Angry Joe video the only place to hear them or are there other places? I'd like to read these rumors to try and get a better feel for them.

Reddit is a good place to start. The initial post has since long been deleted, but it's around somewhere.

You didn't
hear
it
from
me.

Kapeesh.

- No text -

While this fits neatly into my Activision is leprosy to everything they touch theory, and would also explain why Staten was like 'peace bitches I'm out', I doubt we'll ever get anything official. It's easier to just never acknowledge that the story was a hot steaming pile of feces than engage in any kind of public mea culpa and pledge to do better next time.

Still, I've been on record for a long time as wishing to drug Staten with some truth syrum and ask so many questions. You know, in a totally not weird way. Ahem.

He will open up to me when I get around to writing that book about Bungie.

This is a cute theory, but it's not possible. I've been assured by many members of the Destiny.Bungie.Org forum that Activision has zero creative influence or control on anything Destiny-related. It's hogwash.

That's worse then, because that means the creative decisions were Bungie's alone, and they are therefore incompetent…