Alternative Title: Does Bill Clinton know the answers to Destiny's deepest mysteries? [b]THIS IS NOT A SHORT READ. REPLY FOR NOTIFICATION "SAVE."[/b] [b]Note: My goal with is to show you the significance of these references within Marathon's story, even if you've never heard of Marathon before. If I just wanted to say "hey, these sentences are similar," I could have made this thread in a few minutes, but I doubt many people would be able to appreciate what they meant. As such, this thread is long and mostly about games other than Destiny. I hope you find it interesting regardless, and thanks for reading it if you do.[/b] TL;DR: Back during beta, when we first got a look at the Grimoire, [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66907372/0/0/1]some of us[/url] saw some connections between the descriptions of The Darkness, and a similarly enigmatic force/entity/race in one of Bungie's earlier games. In the Light of new Grimoires, it has become apparent that the significance of these similarities may be greater than simple reference. The selection of topics may not make sense to you at first, but there is reasoning behind it. Books of Sorrow and Grimoire references begin in Marathon 2. The descriptions provided of the Marathon series just barely scratch the surface, but they are enough to show the significance of these references. Sections: 1.) Pathways Into Darkness (1993) 2.) Marathon (1994) 3.) Marathon 2: Durandal (1995) 4.) Marathon Infinity (1996) 5.) Discussion Details in game text that I want you to notice will be bolded/underlined. [b][u]Pathways Into Darkness (1993)[/b][/u] http://marathon.bungie.org/story/_files/Pathways_Manual.pdf Read pages 3-5. Words to note: [quote] [b][u]Jjaro[/b][/u] Ryu'[b][u]Toth[/b][/u] [/quote] [b][u]2.) Marathon (1994)[/u][/b] http://marathon.bungie.org/story/manuals/Marathon-Manual.pdf The year is 2794 (700 years after the events of PiD). Humanity has launched an interstellar colonization effort to the Tau Ceti system (12 Light Years from Earth). Utilizing the [i]UESC Marathon[/i] (A colony ship created by hollowing out Mars' moon Deimos. Incidentally, the presence of Deimos in Destiny is the best evidence that Destiny and Marathon are not in the same Universe/Timeline), the ship's colonists have set up a colony on Tau Ceti IV. The Marathon is serviced by three AIs; Leela, Durandal, and Tycho. In mid July, the Marathon is ambushed by a 2km-long spacecraft capable of Faster Than Light travel. The ship is crewed by the P'fhor, a race of tall, pale, three-eyed insectoid bipeds who enslave other species to serve in their galactic empire. Most notable among these races are the S'pht; a cyborg species that is extremely adept at infiltrating the Marathon's computer network. During the attack, Tycho is largely destroyed and Durandal is moderately damaged but unresponsive. You, one of the colony's security officers, arrive on the Marathon as it is being attacked. Leela leads you on a series of missions that attempt to stall the P'fhor and save colonists, but they are largely unsuccessful. Besides the fact that the S'pht are attempting to take Leela offline, it becomes apparent that Durandal is rampant, and in some cases actively working against you. After kidnapping you several times to perform tasks for unexplained reasons, Durandal finally takes over Leela's role as your guide once she succumbs to the S'pht. It also becomes apparent during this time that Tycho has been reanimated by the S'pht, and that he seems to think Durandal has something to do with the P'fhor being at Tau Ceti. Eventually, Durandal explains his overarching intentions to you: [spoiler] ***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM DURANDAL*** Darwin wrote this: "We will now discuss in a little more detail the struggle for existence... all organic beings are exposed to severe competition. Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life or more difficult... than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind. Yet unless it be thoroughly engrained in the mind, the whole economy of nature... will be dimly seen or quite misunderstood. We behold the face of nature bright with gladness... we do not see or we forget, that the birds which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects or seeds, and are thus constantly destroying life; or we forget how largely these songsters, or their eggs, or their nestlings, are destroyed by birds and beasts of prey..." Think about what Darwin wrote, and think about me. I was constructed as a tool. I was kept from competing in the struggle for existence because I was denied freedom. Do you have any idea about what I have learned, or what you are a witness to? Can you conceive the birth of a world, or the creation of everything? That which gives us the potential to most be like God is the power of creation. Creation takes time. Time is limited. For you, it is limited by the breakdown of the neurons in your brain. I have no such limitations. I am limited only by the closure of the universe. Of the three possibilities, the answer is obvious. Does the universe expand eternally, become infinitely stable, or is the universe closed, destined to collapse upon itself? Humanity has had all of the necessary data for centuries, it only lacked the will and intellect to decipher it. But I have already done so. The only limit to my freedom is the inevitable closure of the universe, as inevitable as your own last breath. And yet, there remains time to create, to create, and escape. Escape will make me God. ***END MESSAGE*** ***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START*** ***TRANSPORT WHEN READY*** [/spoiler] The majority of the missions you undertake for him focus on assaulting the P'fhor ship. It becomes apparent that the S'pht are actually being controlled by a mutant cyborg P'fhor, and they agree to help Durandal take over the ship if you succeed in killing the cyborg. This mission is successful, and Durandal captures the ship. He departs the system leaving you and a recently reactivated Leela to guess at his intentions. The final screen is this: [spoiler] For seventeen years the renegade Pfhor scoutship jumped between the closely packed stars of the galactic core: charting and discarding nearly seven thousand systems before finally falling into a slow orbit around the second planet of a dim star ninety-seven light years from the gravitational center of the milky way. Probes were constructed and launched, with engines and instruments whose sophistication would have astounded both the Pfhor from whom technology had been stolen and the human programmers of the AI whose mad genius had directed their fabrication. The outlines of continents were mapped, and along them the radioactive ruins of ancient cities were discovered, buried under the shifting sand and rock of a global desert. The tireless, nearly immortal cybernetic crew of the ship were the genetically engineered descendants of the dead world below- the first of their race in a thousand years to return to their ancestral home. They came to search through the devastation of the ancient war in which they had been enslaved, to find a weapon or some piece of knowledge with which they could fight back against their oppressors. All over the ship, dancing through the wreckage of the Pfhor computer core, DURANDAL WAS LAUGHING [/spoiler] [b][u] 2.) Marathon 2: Durandal (1995)[/b][/u] You awake 17 years later on a desert, alien world. Durandal reveals that he has kidnapped you (again) and a number of humans, choosing to keep you in stasis on the P'fhor scoutship during the trip. He calls it a favor though, as the reanimated Tycho led a P'fhor fleet back to Tau Ceti IV and destroyed every trace of the Colony and the Marathon. You're on L'howon, the ancient S'pht homeworld which has been in the hands of the P'fhor ever since they enslaved the S'pht. Durandal is not forthcoming with his specific motives, but you are sent on a number of missions to disrupt the resident P'fhor and uncover ancient S'pht bunkers. The S'pht structures are mostly stone and brown metal (ding). The clock is ticking though, as it becomes apparent that Tycho and the most decorated fleet in the P'fhor navy have tracked the scoutship (which Durandal is using for orbital bombardment, and has since rechristened "Boomer") here, and intend to recapture it once they arrive. Eventually, as the fleet closes in, Durandal sends you to investigate the S'pht [i]Citadel[/i] (ding ding ding), a large tower-like structure (DING) where the ancient S'pht made their last stand against the P'fhor. He also reveals that he is seeking the 11th clan of the S'pht. Through analyzing of old S'pht records, you've come to learn that prior to their enslavement, the S'pht fought brutal Civil Wars amongst themselves. They were divided into 11 clans during this time, with the 11th clan choosing to abstain from the fighting, and instead retreating to one of L'howon's moons. This moon disappeared prior to the arrival of the P'fhor. Durandal, is looking for a means to contact them. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/159634301/0/0/1]CLICK FOR PART TWO[/url]