To understand the darkness we must first see the closest example we have of it, the Dark Guardian. Dredgen Yor, A guardian renowned for his fall into Darkness and for wielding the Exotic hand cannon and weapon of sorrow, Thorn. Before succumbing to the temptations of the Darkness this guardian was a noble man, beloved by the people and celebrated as a beacon of hope against the forces that would destroy mankind. His name during this period has been redacted, leading to discussion over Yor's former identity. Over time his fears and his pride led him to want more. Whispers from the Darkness slowly grew into a voice, seducing him with promises of power and glory. He abandoned his old persona, adopting the name "Dredgen Yor", and turning away from the Light. Yor is described as having taken Pahanin's Light, which could mean that he murdered Pahanin. Many believe that Dredgen Yor was the one who killed Jaren Ward, and that Shin Malphur avenged the death of Ward by killing Dredgen Yor. Part of the justification for this belief is the following information: Jaren Ward spoke the line "Yours. Not mine" before killing the corrupt Magistrate Loken The gun that killed Ward is described as sounding "dark and infernal" Shin Malphur spoke the line "Yours...not mine." to Dredgen Yor at the showdown at Dwindler's Range. While the connection is intriguing it has not yet been confirmed. Now that we have Dredgen out of the way we can see how the darkness affects the light and takes control of a being that used to be sovereign of its body. What I believe to be a higher tier disciple of The Darkness, is Oryx. Oryx is a hive king which the Darkness have directly invested power into him in his ability to create the Taken. That's a bit of speculation but not really as it has been seen in the trailer of TTK where Oryx is darkness-infused. Let's look at the way Toland describes the Darkness: From the Journals of Toland, the Shattered I drive myself to the edge of madness trying to explain the truth. It's so simple. Elegant like a knife point. It explains - this is not hyperbole, this is the farthest thing from exaggeration - EVERYTHING. But you lay it out and they stare at you like you've just been exhaling dust. Maybe they're missing some underlying scaffold of truth. Maybe they are all propped on a bed of lies that must be burned away. Why does anything exist? No no no no no don't reach for that word. There's no 'reason'. That's teleology and teleology will stitch your eyelids shut. Why do we have atoms? Because atomic matter is more stable than the primordial broth. Atoms defeated the broth. That was the first war. There were two ways to be and one of them won. And everything that came next was made of atoms. Atoms made stars. Stars made galaxies. Worlds simmered down to rock and acid and in those smoking primal seas the first living molecule learned to copy itself. All of this happened by the one law, the blind law, which exists without mind or meaning. It's the simplest law but it has no worshippers here (out there, though, out there - !) HOW DO I EXPLAIN IT it's so simple WHY DON'T YOU SEE Imagine three great nations under three great queens. The first queen writes a great book of law and her rule is just. The second queen builds a high tower and her people climb it to see the stars. The third queen raises an army and conquers everything. The future belongs to one of these queens. Her rule is harshest and her people are unhappy. But she rules. This explains everything, understand? This is why the universe is the way it is, and not some other way. Existence is a game that everything plays, and some strategies are winners: the ability to exist, to shape existence, to remake it so that your descendants - molecules or stars or people or ideas - will flourish, and others will find no ground to grow. And as the universe ticks on towards the close, the great players will face each other. In the next round there will be three queens and all of them will have armies, and now it will be a battle of swords - until one discovers the cannon, or the plague, or the killing word. Everything is becoming more ruthless and in the end only the most ruthless will remain (LOOK UP AT THE SKY) and they will hunt the territories of the night and extinguish the first glint of competition before it can even understand what it faces or why it has transgressed. This is the shape of victory: to rule the universe so absolutely that nothing will ever exist except by your consent. This is the queen at the end of time, whose sovereignty is eternal because no other sovereign can defeat it. And there is no reason for it, no more than there was reason for the victory of the atom. It is simply the winning play. Of course, it might be that there was another country, with other queens, and in this country they sat down together and made one law and one tower and one army to guard their borders. This is the dream of small minds: a gentle place ringed in spears. But I do not think those spears will hold against the queen of the country of armies. And that is all that will matter in the end. Toland views the Hive as the pinnacle of evolution, the queen of armies. BUT WAIT, this is the darkness grimoire card and there is no mention of the hive, so what's he talking about? My interpretation is that he is talking about the darkness, a force that rules the universe so absolutely that nothing can stand without it. The Threat that it hopes to extinguish, is the Alpha Lupi. This is a enemy that the Darkness has hunted across the vacuums of the universe for Eons. Why is this? Why is the Traveler so important to The Darkness? Because the Traveler is the antithesis, the opposite of the darkness. In Toland's journal Toland talks about how because it is better it will win, like survival of the fittest on the ultimate scale. The Nature of the Darkness is to fight, by whatever means possible, extinguish it's opposite and its greatest enemy That's all for this week! If you enjoyed or have any thoughts tell me about it! Seeya next time guardians.