This is copy-pasted from the Destiny Reddit so prepare for the biggest wall of text you'll ever see. Credit to Spartanlord on Reddit for this. Our story begins with Santhona, Aurash and Xi Ro, spawn of the Hive King. These three of the Hive are brethren, and were responsible for infecting the Hive with the Ahamkara (parasitic worms), who propelled the Hive from the bottom of the food chain on a fragment of a rock in a gas planet to one of the most powerful races in the universe. Aurash becomes Oryx, the Taken King. He wrote the Books of Sorrows, and this is why. Fleeing from Taox, usurper of the Osmium Throne and conspirator against their now-murdered father, the three Hive locate an ancient ship capable of withstanding the immense pressure of the gas planet they are located on. With time running out (Hive age very, very quickly, and they had been onboard for over two years) to prove an extinction level event is imminent - the syzygy, or the 'god wave', a gravitational disaster - they dive to the core of the planet in a bid to buy more time (immortality). On the ship, they have a dead worm: The worm — Carved in my code by Sathona — Who should be afraid — It was my father’s familiar. I ripped it from him as we fled. It is a dead white thing, segmented, washed up from the deep sea. It’s dead, but it still speaks to me. It says: listen closely, oh vengeance mine... Sound familiar? Well, it should. Every single reference to the Ahamkara, be it grimoire or gear, contains the phrase 'Oh (person) mine', be it "reader" or "bearer" or so forth. Furthermore, it washed up from the Deep Sea - from the core of the planet. In Book of Sorrows VIII, we see Sanotha falling under the influence of the worm. She even begins to talk like it: Sisters, I have my father’s familiar. Look! It answers me in plain words. It helped me find this ship. It gives me strength when hope is lost. Who will you trust? The voice that wants us to live and suffer, as we have lived and suffered? The Leviathan that offers no hope against Taox or the world-wave? Or the plain, honest worm? Let us see where its whisper leads us, Aurash. Let us go deeper, Xi Ro! Let us dive, oh sisters mine. Now, in case anyone isn't aware, there is a very strong theory over the powers of the Hive. And this is now confirmed, with the release of Books of Sorrow IX: I am Yul, the Honest Worm. Behold my passage. Behold my vast displacement, my ponderous strength, my great and coiling length, my folded jaws and curled wings. Behold the hiving cities symbiotic with my flesh. I am fecund, Aurash. I am at the beginning and end of lives. Behold Eir, and Xol, and Ur, and Akka. The Virtuous Worms. Look upon us, and know that We are go[o]d. For millions of years We have been [trapped|growing] in the Deep. From across the stars We have called life to Fundament, so that it might contend against extinction. For millennia We have awaited you... our beloved hosts. Against you stand the cruel Leviathan and all the forces of the Sky. They would crush you down into the dark. They have arranged their moons to drown you, in fear of your potential. We want to help you, Princes. We offer to each of you a bargain... a symbiosis. Take into your bodies our children, our newborn larvae. From them you shall obtain eternal life. From them you shall gain power over your own fragile flesh: the power to make of it as you will. And should you find an imperfection in the world, an injustice or an inconvenience — you will have the power to repair it. Let no mere law bind you. We ask one thing in exchange, oh Princes. You must obey your nature forever. In your immortality, Aurash, you may never cease to explore and inquire, for the sake of your children. In your immortality, Xi Ro, you may never cease to test your strength. In your immortality, Sathona, you may never abandon cunning. If you do, your worm will consume you. And as your power grows, oh Princes, so will your worm’s appetite. But we offer eternity, Aurash. We offer you a chance at the universe. Would you deny your people infinity? Reach up to me. Let my flesh be your sacrament. The dead worm that is on the ship one of the spawn of Yul, Eir, Xol, Ur and Akka. They then rename the three Hive brethren as Auryx (Aurash), Savathun (Sanotha) and Xivu Arath (Xi Ro). But the question has remains - why would the Hive deal with literal parasites? Let's take a look at what the Hive refer to as 'The Timid Truth': The Timid Truth says that we are the smallest, most fragile things alive. The natural prey of the universe. This is what the Hive believe themselves to be. They have also stated that they live with "... thousands of other species [that] drift with us, coexisting on a vast world sea. And the tides of the Fundament move us all" The Fundament is the gas planet in which the shattered remains of the Hive's home planet floats in. The Hive have an incredibly short lifespan - a Hive of ten years is ancient. Immortality would be incredibly tempting, and the Ahamkara offer great power. However, we don't have any confirmed, official pictures of an Ahamkara. Many people think they look like dragons, due to the many bones (Claws of Ahamkara, Young Ahamkara's Spine, Bones of Eao) found ingame. But the worms might develop into a dragon like form later in their life form - supported in Book XLV: THE DRAGONS. Our gods should be ours alone. Their smug freedom is an insult to me. I’d shut them all in cells. Bring them to me! And here is how Yul, worm-god of the Hive, describes himself. I am Yul, the Honest Worm. Behold my passage. Behold my vast displacement, my ponderous strength, my great and coiling length, my folded jaws and curled wings. Last time I checked, worms don't (normally) have wings. Perhaps we should have been considering wyrms, not worms. Note how the worm (that is what it is) doesn't seem much like an earthworm? It's more of an armoured, vertebrae-possessing one, with some very large teeth. Continued in Part 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/171150195/0/0